See  paye  208 


GREEKS    IN    AMERICA 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THEIR  COMING,  PROGRESS, 
CUSTOMS,    LIVING,    AND    ASPIRATIONS 

WITH     AN     HISTORICAL     INTRODUCTION     AND 

THE    STORIES    OF    SOME    FAMOUS 

AMERICAN-GREEKS 


BY 

THOMAS  BURGESS 

Member  of  the  American  Branch 
Committee  of  the  Anglican  and 
Eastern  Orthodox  Churches  Union 


BOSTON 

SHERMAN,  FRENCH  #  COMPANY 
1913 


COPYEIGHT,    1913 

SHERMAN,  FRENCH  &  COMPANY 


TO 

JAMES  IRVING  MANATT,  PH.D.,  LL.D. 


271908 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

AN  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION          .       .        3 
I     THE  EXODUS  FROM  GREECE 

Hard  Times  in  Free  Greece — Let 
ters  Sent  Back  from  America — Steam 
ship  Agents — Turkish  Oppression  in 
Enslaved  Greece 15 

II     THE  EARLY  HARDSHIPS 

Three  Periods  of  Greek  Immigration 
—Early  Immigrants  (1882-1891) — 
Trials  and  Tribulations — Lost  in  the 
Maine  Woods 25 

III  IMMIGRATION  FROM  11891  TO  1913 

The  Inrushing  Tide— Peculiar  Char 
acteristics  29 

IV  INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Cigarette  Manufacturers — Importers 
— Confectioners  and  Fruiters — Florists 
— Restaurants — Miscellaneous  Shops — 
Bootblacks — Hotel  Employees — Theatres 
— Fisheries  —  Farming  —  Railroad  La 
borers  —  Miners,,  etc.  —  Mill  Hands  — 
Agents — Autobiography  of  an  Immi 
grant  32 

V     INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Communities  —  Societies  —  The  Pan- 
Hellenic  Union — Newspapers — Books — 
Families  —  Schools  —  The  Professional 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

Class  —  Students  —  The  Clergy  —  The 
Diplomatic  Service — The  Call  Home  to 
Arms 52 

VI     CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES 

Independence  Day — Picnics — Church 
Feasts  and  Fasts — The  Sunday  Liturgy 
— Church  Music — Household  Eikons — 
Other  Rites  and  Ceremonies — Weddings 
— Funerals 87 

VII  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  GREEKS 

Little  Understood — Account  by  a 
Greek  Priest — Characteristics  .  .  .113 

VIII     LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES 

Chicago: — History  of  Community — A 
Hull  House  Investigation — Unfair  Criti 
cism — Criminal  Record — Labor  and  Busi 
ness — School  Children — A  Women's  Club 
— Homes  and  Lodging  Places — A  Capa 
ble  Race 123 

IX     IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS 

Lowell,  Massachusetts : — A  Polyglot 
City — Rise  of  the  Community — Pigs 
and  Hogs — Recreations  and  Sobriety — 
Strikes — No  Paupers — Evening  Schools 
—A  Beautiful  Byzantine  Church  .  .138 

X    THE  GREAT  WEST 

Railroad  Gangs — A  Barbarous  Riot 
of  Americans — St.  Louis — Salt  Lake 
City— Seattle 161 

XI    THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES 

Minneapolis  and  Washington,  D.  C. — 
Birmingham,  Alabama — Scattered  Indi- 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

viduals— A  Half-Greek  Town— A  Cele 
bration  and  a  Speech  on  Politics  .      .      .169 

XII     AMERICA'S  DUTY 

A  Permanent  Migration — Some  Sug 
gestions  to  Americans 182 

XIII  FAMOUS  AMERICAN  GREEKS 

Earliest  Greeks  in  America — Orphans 
of  the  War  of  1821-28— A  Famous 
Scholar — A  Captain  and  an  Admiral  of 
the  U.  S.  N.— A  Gunner— A  Navy  Chap 
lain — A  Famous  Mason — A  Member  of 
Congress — A  Curator  of  Cooper  Union 
— A  Harvard  Professor — Others  .  .190 

XIV  MICHAEL  ANAGNOS 

Hellene  of  the  Hellenes,  Benefactor 
of  Humanity 208 

APPENDIX 

A.  TABLE    BY    STATES    AND    CITIES    OF 

NUMBER  OF  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA         226 

B.  BIBLIOGRAPHY,  A  GUIDE  TO  FURTHER 

READING  AND  STUDY 

I  Greeks  in  America — II  Modern 
Greek  Language — III  Mediaeval  and 
Modern  Greece  and  Greeks — IV  The 
Eastern  Orthodox  Church  ....  285 

INDEX 249 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Michael  Anagnos Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Greek  Farm  in  California 30 

Greek  Railroad  Laborers  in  the  West  ....  42 
Holy  Trinity,  Lowell,  Mass 56 

Track  Team,  Greek-American  Athletic  Club,  New 
York 60 

Council,  Pan-Hellenic  Union 66 

A  Wedding  Party,  Newark,  N.  J 84 

The  Greek  National  Anthem 90 

Byzantine  Musical  Notation 106 

Young  Greeks'  Educational  Association,  Chicago  124 
In  the  Slaughter  Houses,  Somerville,  Mass.  .  .142 
Interior,  Greek  Church,  Lowell,  Mass.  .  .  .158 
Greek  Railroad  Construction  Gang  .  .  .  .162 
Graduation  Day,  Greek  School,  Chicago  .  .  .184 
Rear  Admiral  Colvocoresses,  U.  S.  N.  .  .  .196 
John  C.  Zachos,  Curator  of  Cooper  Union  .  .  200 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  intended  for  general  readers,  as 
well  as  for  students  of  the  immigration  problem. 
Its  object  is  to  diffuse  a  sympathetic  understand 
ing  of  one  interesting1  race  of  foreigners  who 
have  come  to  dwell  in  our  country.  There  are 
plenty  of  books,  many  of  them  excellent,  on  the 
subject  of  immigrants  and  immigration  in  gen 
eral,  which  are  useful  as  bird's-eye  views;  but 
with  a  subject  so  vast  and  complex  such  general 
books  cannot  possibly  treat  each  individual  race 
with  due  proportion  or  even  accuracy.  What  is 
needed  is  that  each  particular  people  should  be 
studied  separately  with  care,  and  portrayed  sep 
arately  with  completeness.  This  book  is  an  at 
tempt  to  do  this  with  the  Greeks,  a  people  inter 
esting  and  important  not  only  because  of  their 
history  and  characteristics,  but  also  because  of 
their  wide  diffusion  throughout  every  state  of  our 
country. 

The  method  of  this  book  is  to  try  to  describe 
the  Greeks  picturesquely,  and  as  far  as  possible 
from  a  Greek  standpoint.  Its  principal  sources 
are:  first,  the  Greeks  in  America,  themselves — a 
number  of  the  leading  Greek  gentlemen  in  Amer 
ica  and  a  number  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  immi 
grants  ;  second,  the  assistance  and  criticism  of 
xi 


xii  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

several  Americans  who  know  the  Greeks  of  Greece 
or  of  America  well ;  third,  most  of  the  best  books 
in  English  on  the  subject  of  modern  and  medieval 
Greece  or  parallel  subjects,  historical,  ecclesias 
tical,  and  descriptive ; — I  have  eschewed  magazine 
articles. 

I  have  tried  to  depict  all  sides  justly.  It  is 
all  too  easy  to  pick  to  pieces  the  bad  in  the  char 
acter  of  another,  be  it  man  or  race.  Too  much 
has  already  been  written  and  said  enlarging  on 
Greek  vices.  Too  much  do  wre  Americans  look 
down  on  the  foreigners  among  us,  little  realizing 
that  those  foreigners  are  looking  down  on  us  at 
the  same  time.  We  need  most  to  learn  to  recog 
nize  the  good  qualities  in  the  Greeks  (and  other 
foreigners  too)  and  to  give  them  opportunity 
to  develop  those  good  qualities ;  nor  can  we  ex 
pect  them  to  become  useful  citizens  until  we  do 
so  learn. 

I  have  also  in  preparation  and  hope  to  have 
published  soon,  a  companion  volume  to  the  pres 
ent  book,  giving  the  historical  background  of 
the  modern  Greeks ; — a  sketch  of  that  long  and 
fascinating  section  of  history  which  is  not  famil 
iar  to  most  Americans,  but  which  must  be  known 
in  order  to  thoroughly  appreciate  the  ideals  and 
aspirations  of  our  Hellenic  fellow  citizens. 

To  my  dear  friend  the  k.1  Seraphim  G.  Can- 
outas,  LL.B.,  I  owe  the  first  inspiration  to 

i  The  k.  stands  for    6  ittpios     (kyrios),  the  Greek  for  Mr. 
This  is  used  throughout  the  book  in  designating  Greeks. 


PREFACE  xiii 

write  and  continual  assistance  and  encourage 
ment  throughout  the  labors  of  preparation. 
Nearly  all  the  facts  contained  in  Chapters  I-V, 
and  parts  of  others,  I  took  down  at  his  dictation 
or  translated  from  his  book.  Also  he  has  cor 
rected  and  criticized  most  of  the  manuscript. 
Because  of  his  visits  to  the  Greeks  in  every  state 
of  the  Union  except  Arizona  and  New  Mexico, 
he  knows  the  Greeks  in  America  better  than  any 
other  man.  I  also  wish  to  thank  Mrs.  Canoutas. 

I  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the  courtesy, 
encouragement  and  help  of  the  Hon.  Lysimachos 
Kaftantzoglu,  Charge  d' Affaires  of  the  Royal 
Legation  of  Greece  in  Washington;  the  Hon. 
Constantine  Papamichalopoulos,  former  Minister 
of  Education  and  Religion  of  Greece,  etc.,  etc., 
now  General  Manager  of  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union 
in  America ;  the  k.  Sinadinos,  and  Dr.  Vrachnos, 
president,  and  vice-president  of  the  Union ;  the 
k.  Michal  latros ;  Admiral  Colvocoresses,  U.  S. 
N. ;  the  k.  Theo.  B.  Ion,  former  president  of  the 
Union;  the  editors  of  Atlantis,  and  the  proprie 
tors  of  "Atlas"  book  store.  Space  does  not 
permit  me  to  mention  the  names  of  the  many 
other  Greeks,  especially  my  good  friends  of  the 
Greek  Community  of  Biddeford  and  Saco,  Maine. 

Most  of  the  pictures  used  to  illustrate  this 
book  were  kindly  furnished  by  the  k.  Canoutas 
and  the  managing  editor  of  Atlantis. 

To  Professor  J.  Irving  Manatt  of  Brown  Uni 
versity,  scholar  and  Philhellene,  former  consul 


xiv  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

at  Athens,  who  first  at  college  taught  me  to  love 
Hellas  and  the  Hellenes,  I  wish  especially  to  ex 
press  my  thanks  for  advice,  valuable  material,  and 
direction  in  reading.  Also  I  wish  gratefully  to 
acknowledge  the  help  of  Mr.  Franklin  B.  San- 
born,  last  of  the  Concord  sages  and  Philhellene, 
a  close  friend  of  Dr.  Howe  and  Anagnos;  of  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Edward  M.  Parker  of  New  Hampshire, 
Anglican  President  of  the  American  Branch  of 
the  Anglican  and  Eastern  Orthodox  Churches 
Union ;  and  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Lacey  of 
Brooklyn.  For  some  of  the  translations  and 
other  help  I  am  much  indebted  to  Mr.  John  Alden 
of  Portland  and  Mr.  Ralph  W.  Brown  of  Boston. 
Finally  let  me  express  my  gratitude  for  the  en 
couragement  and  assistance  of  my  wife.  Those 
whose  names  are  mentioned  in  the  text  as  writing 
for  the  book  or  giving  permission  to  quote,  I  will 
not  thank  here  by  name ;  nor  is  there  space  to  ac 
knowledge  the  assistance  of  many  other  Ameri 
cans. 

THOMAS  BURGESS. 

Trinity  Rectory,  Saco,  Maine. 
1913. 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 


AN  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION 

To  appreciate  the  Greeks  of  today  it  is  neces 
sary,  more  than  with  any  other  race  of  immigrants 
in  America,  to  know  their  history.  The  Greek 
has  a  continuous  history  of  3000  or  4000  years ; 
for  longevity  and  continuity  of  race  no  other 
people  save  the  Hebrew,  and  even  he  must  yield 
in  point  of  language,  is  in  any  way  comparable. 
Modern  Greek  as  it  is  written  is  as  much  like 
ancient  Greek  as  modern  English  is  like  Chaucer, 
or  as  the  language  of  Xenophon  is  like  that  of 
Homer.  The  modern  Greek  Kingdom  and  the 
modern  Greek  people  are  literally  steeped  in  the 
history  of  their  race :  it  is  told  the  children  at 
home ;  it  is  drummed  into  them  at  school ;  the  talk 
of  men  and  newspapers  is  filled  with  historical 
allusions,  ancient,  mediaeval,  and  modern,  and  so 
are  their  customs  and  very  superstitions.  Their 
church  services  breathe  of  the  Fathers  and  the 
Byzantine  Empire;  their  very  language  is  being 
made  more  classical  by  legal  enactment.  Go  into 
a  Greek  coffee  house  or  shoe  shine  "parlor"  in 
any  of  our  American  cities,  and  you  will  prob 
ably  see  on  the  walls  rude  chromos  depicting  the 
history  of  Greece  all  the  way  from  the  age  of 

Pericles    to    the   Balkan   War   of   1912-13:   like- 

3 


4  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

nesses  of  Plato,  Demosthenes,  Alexander  the 
Great;  sometimes  a  complete  gallery  on  one 
sheet  of  the  Byzantine  Emperors  from  Constan- 
tine  to  Constantine,  and  beside  it  a  picture  of  the 
present  Constantine ;  the  heroes  and  events  of  the 
Greek  War  of  Independence;  and  various  his 
torical  and  symbolical  representations  of  the 
course  of  modern  Greece;  or,  to  sum  up  the  age 
long  sweep  of  Greek  history  again,  perhaps  you 
will  there  see  pictures  of  the  Parthenon,  the  Are- 
opagos,  St.  Sophia,  the  University. 

Of  ancient  Greece  every  educated  American 
knows  the  history  and  glory,  up  to  the  time  of 
St.  Paul.  For  the  first  three  centuries  of  Chris 
tianity  the  growing  Church  was  slowly  leavening 
the  decadent  Hellenic  civilization  into  real 
strength  till  we  find  in  the  time  of  Constantine  the 
Great  that  the  East  had  become  for  the  most  part 
Christian,  with  a  powerful  church  organization, 
while  the  West  remained  for  the  most  part 
heathen. 

The  story  of  the  Hellenic  race  from  330  to 
1453,  the  Eastern  Empire,  is  one  of  the  grand 
sections  of  world  history  which  has  been  most 
shamefully  neglected  by  modern  English  speak 
ing  scholars — and  much  of  the  blame  for  this 
may  be  laid  to  the  scathing  pen  of  the  brilliant 
and  godless  Gibbon.  As  a  matter  of  truth,  the 
tale  of  the  much  maligned  Byzantine  Empire, 
which  ever  remained  Greek  in  its  characteristics 
and  aspirations,  is  a  history  of  the  center  of 


INTRODUCTION  5 

civilization  for  1000  years.  While  the  Barbarian 
hordes  of  the  West,  which  had  swept  away  the 
ancient  civilization  of  old  Rome  and  were  bound 
together  only  by  the  rising  power  of  the  papacy, 
were  squabbling  for  existence,  the  mighty  empire 
of  New  Rome  preserved  culture  and  civilization 
and  the  Christian  faith  intact,  and  for  ten  cen 
turies — longer  than  any  other  dynasty — beat 
back  Goth,  Hun,  Vandal,  Slav,  Persian,  Saracen, 
Bulgar,  Magyar,  Seljouk  and  Ottoman  Turk. 
She,  the  bulwark  of  Europe,  stood  ever  bravely 
on  the  defensive,  and  through  the  shifting  shocks 
of  a  thousand  years  saved  Europe  till  Europe  was 
strong  enough  to  save  herself.  Toward  the  end 
she  was  ruined  by  the  traitor  stroke  of  the  Latin 
barbarians  of  the  Fourth  Crusade.  Three  cen 
turies  more  she  struggled  on,  and  died  fighting, 
and  St.  Sophia,  greatest  of  Christian  churches, 
became  a  mosque  as  it  is  this  day.  Then  she 
handed  on  to  youthful  Europe  the  culture  she  had 
preserved  and  the  Renaissance  came  into  being, 
Hellenic  in  its  foundations.  The  cause  of  the 
longevity  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  slurs  to  the  con 
trary  notwithstanding,  was  its  superior  morality, 
and  the  motive  power  of  the  Empire  was  the  Or 
thodox  Church. 

All  these  are  big  assertions,  I  realize,  but  they 
are  absolutely  true  to  history.  This  neglected 
section  of  history  should  be  given  much  greater 
attention  in  our  colleges.  The  history  of  the 
Middle  Ages  is  far  more  than  a  mere  history  of 


6  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

the  rise  of  the  papacy  as  is  so  often  taught. 
The  Dark  Ages  of  the  East — and  the  East  means 
in  fundamentals  Christian  Hellenism — did  not  be 
gin  till  1453.  Unless  we  appreciate  all  this,  we 
cannot  appreciate  the  proud  claims  of  the  modern 
Greek,  nor  understand  the  Eastern  Orthodox 
Church.  Moreover  the  modern  Greek,  scholars 
of  today  agree  without  hesitation,  is  the  direct 
descendant  of  his  ancestor,  the  ancient  Greek, 
though  with  a  tinge  of  alien  blood.  Whatever 
races  in  the  course  of  the  centuries  conquered  the 
Greeks  or  colonized  their  lands,  if  they  remained, 
inevitably  became  Hellenized  and  assimilated. 

For  the  next  four  centuries  after  the  fall  of 
Constantinople,  the  Greek  was  ground  down  with 
worse  than  slavery  by  the  unspeakable  Turk. 
'Tis  a  bitter  tale  of  continuous  misrule,  grinding 
taxation,  indignities,  atrocities,  massacres,  and, 
bitterest  of  all,  the  conscription  of  little  children 
to  be  brought  up  Mohammedans  and  serve  in  the 
armies  of  the  Sultan.  It  was  the  Greek  Church 
that  kept  alive  the  spark  of  patriotism  and  edu 
cation,  and  the  modern  Greek  has  never  forgotten 
his  incalculable  debt  to  his  Church.  Through 
these  Dark  Ages,  heroic  bands  of  Greek  men 
known  as  the  Klephts,  ensconced  in  their  moun 
tain  fastnesses,  kept  their  semi-independence. 
The  daring  deeds  of  these  bands  form  the  subject 
of  much  of  the  folklore,  the  Klephtic  ballads, 
known  by  heart  and  loved  by  all  modern  Greeks. 
At  the  end  of  the  Dark  Ages,  it  was  the  weaken- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

ing  of  the  Ottoman  power,  the  higher  education  of 
Greeks  in  foreign  lands,  and  the  echoes  of  the 
French  Revolution  and  of  our  own  American 
Revolution  which  finally  fanned  the  dulled  em 
bers  of  bitter  longing  for  freedom  to  a  flame. 

In  1821  on  the  25th  of  March  (old  style  calen 
dar)  Archbishop  Germanos  of  Patras  raised  the 
banner  of  the  Cross,  and  the  enslaved  Greeks 
flocked  to  arms.  The  tyrant  Sultan  responded 
with  a  terrible  massacre  of  thousands  of  Christian 
Greeks,  hanging  the  venerable  Patriarch  of  Con 
stantinople.  But  in  three  months  the  Turk  was 
driven  out  of  the  Peloponnesus  and  a  provisional 
government  established.  Soon  the  world  was 
shocked  with  the  news  of  the  massacre  of  Chios 
(or  Scio),  unparalleled  in  modern  history,  where 
of  the  100,000  inhabitants,  cultured,  prosperous, 
happy,  hitherto  favored  by  the  Sultan,  only  5000 
were  left  alive  on  the  island  by  Turkish  barbarity. 
Then  it  was  that  Kanares  and  the  Greek  fleet 
swept  clear  the  seas,  and  everywhere  were  re 
corded  brilliant  deeds  of  Greek  valor.  In  the 
first  three  years  of  the  seven  years'  struggle  it 
seemed  as  if  Greece  had  won.  But  the  weakened 
Sultan  called  in  the  aid  of  his  ruthless  Egyptian 
vassal,  Ibrahim  Pasha,  and  the  cloud  of  hopeless 
atrocity  settled  down  again.  Ibrahim's  hordes 
swept  over  the  Peloponnesus,  leaving  in  their 
train  only  mangled  corpses  and  charred  ruins, 
and  the  Ottoman  slave  markets  were  filled  with 
Greek  mothers  and  children.  On  the  other  side 


8  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  the  siege  of  Mesolonghi 
stands  out  as  one  of  the  most  heroic  defences  in 
history.  At  its  end  a  few  cut  their  way  out, 
and  the  rest,  forced  back,  blew  themselves  up  in 
the  powder  magazine.  Finally,  in  1828,  after  the 
fall  of  Athens,  the  combined  fleet  of  the  Powers, 
who  were  able  to  withstand  the  universal  outcry 
no  longer,  destroyed  the  fleet  of  Ibrahim  in  the 
harbor  of  Navarino,  and  the  war  was  over. 

Many  a  foreign  Philhellene  fought  and  min 
istered  to  the  destitute  on  the  Greek  side  in  the 
war,  most  famous  among  whom  was  the  poet  Lord 
Byron,  who  died  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Greece, 
and  his  heart  was  buried  in  the  church  at  Meso 
longhi  beside  the  hero  Marko  Botzaris.  Ameri 
cans  may  now  have  forgotten,  but  the  Greeks 
have  not,  the  messages  and  speeches  to  Congress 
of  President  Monroe,  Daniel  Webster,  Henry 
Clay,  and  the  heroic  deeds  of  American  Philhel- 
lenes,  chiefest  of  whom  stands  Bostonian  Dr. 
Samuel  Gridley  Howe,  "the  Lafayette  of  the 
Greek  Revolution,"  whose  services  to  Greece  were 
greater  than  even  those  of  Lord  Byron.  After  the 
war  another  American  rendered  inestimable  service 
to  Greece,  that  second  foreign  missionary  of  our 
American  Episcopal  Church,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Henry  Hill.  This  unassuming  American  priest 
established  the  first  schools  in  Athens  for  both 
sexes,  and  supported  by  his  faithful  wife,  for 
fifty  years  (till  their  death)  labored  in  Athens, 
giving  the  start  and  model  to  all  the  girls'  schools 


INTRODUCTION  9 

of  Greece,  never  proselytizing,  honored  and  up 
held  by  all  Greeks,  government,  church,  and  peo 
ple.  The  modern  Greeks  have  always  looked 
with  veneration  and  gratitude  upon  our  United 
States  of  America. 

Greece  became  free  in  1828 — a  land  utterly 
despoiled  by  the  ravages  of  the  terrible  Ibrahim. 
But  the  benign  Powers  of  Europe  allowed  her  only 
one-third  of  the  territory  fought  for  and  one- 
fifth  of  the  Greek  people  who  had  struggled  for 
liberty;  sent  her  the  tactless  boy  king,  Otho,  who 
for  forty  years  retarded  the  kingdom's  progress; 
loaded  her  with  a  hopeless  debt;  and  have  ever 
since  treated  her  with  a  like  selfishness  of  diplo 
matic  coquetry, — yes,  until  the  year  of  grace 
1913.  At  last  Greece  and  the  other  brave  little 
Balkan  kingdoms  have  shown  the  Powers  that  they 
would  stand  their  concert  of  tyranny  no  longer. 

Not  until  186&,  with  King  George's  accession, 
did  real  constitutional  freedom  and  real  progress 
begin  in  Greece.  Since  then  remarkable  strides 
have  been  made  despite  the  endless  turmoil  of 
politicians  and  the  constant  changes  in  the  min 
istry.  This  handicap,  though  characteristic  of 
the  Greeks,  ancient  and  modern,  has  been  largely 
the  result  of  the  narrowed  confines  of  the  King 
dom,  where  every  Greek,  whether  he  live  in  Greece 
or  Turkey  or  Asia  or  elsewhere,  has  the  full  priv 
ileges  of  citizenship  and  the  right  of  free  educa 
tion  at  the  University  of  Athens.  Thus  it  came 
about  that  the  political  professions  were  almost 


10  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

ridiculously  overstocked,  and  Athens  has  more 
newspapers  than  New  York.  The  little  Kingdom 
up  to  the  present  year  comprised  in  the  north 
but  a  part  of  Thessaly  and  a  scrap  of  Epiros,  and 
also  but  a  part  of  the  ^Egean  archipelago.  In 
the  remainder  of  what  should  have  been  Greece 
the  dark  ages  of  Turkish  misrule  and  barbarity 
have  lasted  on  until  the  Balkan  War  of  victory. 
To  devoted  Crete,  after  seven  revolutions  and  hor 
rible  massacres  of  Christians,  the  Christian 
Powers — when  they  could  help  themselves  no 
longer — in  1898  finally  allowed  autonomy  but  not 
annexation. 

In  our  judgment  of  the  modern  Greek  we  must 
never  fail  to  take  into  account  these  tremendous 
handicaps  he  has  had  to  face,  chiefest  among 
which  has  been  the  abominable  lack  of  sympathy 
and  support  from  Christian  Europe.  Until  the 
Balkan  War  of  victory,  Greece  has  become  known 
to  English  readers  largely  through  the  prejudice 
of  English  writers. 

Athens  of  to-day  represents  the  very  acme  of 
civic  pride.  It  is  a  beautiful  modern  city.  Its 
nearest  approach  to  slums  are  of  white  marble. 
The  city  is  remarkably  free  from  beggars,  crim 
inal  class,  rowdyism,  drunkenness,  and,  I  think 
it  is  true  to  say,  freer  than  any  city  of  Europe 
or  America  from  allurements  to  sexual  vice.  Her 
educational  and  philanthropic  institutions  are 
most  praiseworthy.  She  has  been  the  center  of 
Greek  culture  for  three  generations,  and  she  has 


INTRODUCTION  11 

also  been  the  generous  asylum  for  refugees  from 
Moslem  barbarity. 

As  in  every  one  of  the  past  twenty-five  cen 
turies  the  Greeks  have  been  the  most  intelligent 
and  best  instructed  race  of  southeastern  Europe, 
so  modern  Greece  has  not  neglected  the  education 
of  her  children.  Ever  since  1837  Greece  has  had 
her  gradually  improving  public  school  system, 
free  to  all  Greeks  from  the  Deme  School,  on 
through  the  Hellenic  School,  the  Gymnasium,  and 
the  University.  Let  us  note  that  the  Bible,  the 
Catechism,  and  Church  History  is  always  a  prom 
inent  and  required  part  of  the  curriculum.  In 
enslaved  Greece  and  elsewhere  much  educational 
and  philanthropic  work  has  been  carried  on 
through  Greek  benevolence. 

The  independent  or  autocephalous  Church  of 
Greece,  like  the  Church  of  Russia  and  the  other 
national  Eastern  Orthodox  Churches,  is  headed 
by  a  Holy  Synod,  whose  president  is  the  Metro 
politan  Archbishop  of  Athens.  There  are  many 
well  educated  Greek  bishops  and  priests  and 
deacons,  but  the  education  of  the  country  parish 
clergy  has  been  sadly  neglected,  although  this 
condition  is  being  bettered.  Unhappily,  also,  the 
young  men  of  the  best  families  rarely  study  for 
the  ministry.  Epiros,  Macedonia,  the  northern 
and  eastern  islands  and  littoral  of  the  ^Egean 
Sea,  in  which  the  large  majority  of  the  popula 
tion  are  Greek,  have  been  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who  since 


12  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

1453  has  been  invested  with  his  authority  and 
deposed  at  will  by  the  Mohammedan  Sultan. 

The  population  of  the  little  curtailed  Kingdom 
before  1913  was  in  round  numbers  2,500,000.  In 
what  was  and  in  what  still  is  Turkish  dominions 
and  elsewhere  there  are  some  10,000,000  more 
Greeks. 

Outside  of  Athens,  Greece  is  made  up  for  the 
most  part  of  villages  scattered  throughout  the 
jagged  mountains  and  countless  inlets  and  the 
islands.  Nearly  everyone  lives  in  his  own  house. 
About  70  per  cent  are  engaged  in  agricultural, 
pastoral,  and  other  "unskilled"  pursuits.  Every 
town  and  hamlet  has  its  church  or  churches,  and 
many  a  mountain  top  its  saint's  chapel  and  some 
times  its  monastery.  Practically  all  Greeks  are 
Eastern  Orthodox,  and  the  Roman  propaganda 
and  Protestant  proselytism  has  made  scarcely 
any  impression.  The  Greeks  love  their  Church, 
and  love  to  celebrate  her  festivals,  and  the  parish 
priest  is  a  man  of  much  influence  in  his  village. 
In  fact  patriotism  and  Orthodoxy  are  insepar 
ably  bound  together  in  the  heart  of  the  Greek — 
the  former,  I  fear,  having  the  great  emphasis. 

Wealthy  Greeks  the  world  over  have  vied  with 
each  other  to  embellish  their  fatherland  and  pro 
vide  for  the  education  and  relief  of  their  compa 
triots  at  home,  and  the  poorer  Greeks,  banded 
into  societies  all  over  America  and  elsewhere,  are 
continually  sending  home  contributions. 

Wealthy  Greek  mercantile  houses,  chief  among 


INTRODUCTION  13 

which  are  the  famous  Ralli  Brothers,  are  found 
in  every  commercial  center  of  the  world,  includ 
ing  America.  Greeks  have  long  constituted  the 
majority  of  the  professional  and  foreign  diplo 
matic  classes  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Greek 
scholars  have  occupied  a  number  of  chairs  in  the 
universities  of  Europe  and  also  a  few  in  America, 
as  Professor  Sophocles  of  Harvard.  And  finally, 
Greek  wanderers  from  all  classes  may  be  found, 
Odysseus-like,  in  every  nook  and  cranny  of  the 
world. 

Such  is  the  briefest  sort  of  an  account  of  the 
history  of  the  Greeks  and  of  what  they  are  to 
day.  We  would  strongly  urge  the  reader  to  fill 
out  this  outline  by  more  extended  reading,  as  a 
guide  to  which  we  have  appended  a  carefully 
selected  bibliography  at  the  end  of  the  book. 
One  cannot  rightly  appreciate  or  sympathize  with 
the  Greeks  in  America  without  a  real  knowledge 
of  their  fascinating  history  and  of  their  early  life 
among  the  mountains  and  shores  and  islands  of 
fair  Hellas,  to  which  they  look  back  with  love  and 
patriotism. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  GREECE 

Thirty  years  ago  there  were  scarcely  any 
Greeks  in  these  United  States.  At  the  present 
time  they  number  over  a  quarter  of  a  million, 
scattered  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
our  country,  an  important,  intelligent,  and  little 
appreciated  part  of  our  population.  Let  us  be 
gin  our  tale  of  these  scions  of  Ancient  and  Me 
diaeval  Hellas,  and  citizens,  former  or  present,  of 
the  brave  little  modern  Kingdom,  by  relating 
when  and  why  they  came. 

Before  this  period  of  Greek  immigration 
proper  to  America  the  Greek  emigrant  had 
sought  as  the  haven  of  his  wanderlust  Roumania, 
Bulgaria,  Russia,  England,  and  elsewhere  over 
the  nearer  parts  of  the  world.  It  was  the  islander 
who  started  the  first  flow  of  emigration,  and 
later  the  peasant  of  the  mountain  districts  of 
the  mainland.  As  yet,  however,  America  was 
out  of  the  range  of  his  thinking,  save  only  as  a 
sort  of  fabled  Atlantis,  far  out  beyond  the 
straits  of  Gibraltar.  No  peasant  ever  thought 
of  it  as  a  place  where  lie  could  go  and  live  and 
earn  money.  It  was  not  till  about  thirty  years 
ago — we  know  not  what  started  the  first — that 

the    stream    of   emigrants   proper   began   to   flow 

15 


16  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

westward  from  Hellas  to  our  shores.  Three  dis 
tinct  periods  there  have  been :  the  first  ten  years, 
beginning  forty  years  ago,  they  came  by  tens ;  the 
next  ten  years,  by  hundreds ;  and  the  last  twenty, 
by  ever  increasing  thousands.  The  table  of 
statistics  shows  graphically  w-hat  has  occurred.1 

1  From  "Annual  Reports"  of  the  Commissioner  General 
of  Immigration.  These  figures  cannot  be  absolutely  ac 
curate:  for  diseased  or  otherwise  ineligible  immigrants 
often  get  through  somehow;  some  enter  by  way  of  Canada; 
many  are  listed  on  paper  as  sailors  and  ostensibly  desert 
when  they  reach  America;  also  Greeks  from  enslaved  Hel 
las  may  be  recorded  as  of  another  race. 

In  1848  there  arrived  in  New  York  91,061   Irish,  51,973 
Germans    and    one    Greek.     In    1858    there    were   2    Greeks 
among  the  immigrants.     From  1847  to  1864  the  total  num 
ber  of  Greeks  entering  this  port  was  77.     ^^§ 
1809          8  1891  1105 

1870  22  1892  615 

1871  11  1893          1131 

1872  12          "1894          1351 

1873  23  1895  605 

1874  36  1896          2175 

1875  25  1897  571 

1876  19  1898          2339 

1877  24  1899          2333 

1878  16  1900          3771        3773 

1879  2*  1901          5910        5919 

1880  23  1902-          8104        8115 

1881  19.  1903         14090       M37.6 

1882  126  1904         12515       12625 

1883  73  1905         10515       12144 

1884  37  1906         19489       23127 

1885  172  1907  36580  4.6283 

1886  104  1908  21489  2$808 

1887  313  1909  14059  20262 

1888  782  1910  25675  3§135 

1889  158  1911  26226  37021 

1890  524  1912  21288  31*66 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  GREECE        17 

Up  to  1891  the  causes  of  emigration  require 
little  explanation.  It  was  the  usual  way  in  which 
any  migratory  people  tend  toward  a  promising 
country.  The  few  that  came  before  the  80's 
wrote  home  to  their  relatives  and  friends  of  the 
fine  openings  in  America,  and  the  relatives  and 
friends  came  in  gradually  growing  numbers. 

In  1891,  as  the  statistics  show,  a  great  change 
begins.  The  cause  which  started  this  sudden  in 
crease  of  emigration,  and  still  affects  it  in  a  less 
degree,  was  the  industrial  depression,  or  rather 
stagnation,  brought  about  in  part  from  the 
lack  of  diversified  industry  and  from  the  ever 
shifting  changes  in  the  government,  and  brought 
to  a  crisis  at  the  tm»e  by  the  failure  of 
the  all  important  currant  industry.  With  hard 
times  at  home,  the  Greek  came  "because  he 
could  get  more  money  in  America" ;  2  and  when 
once  started  he  kept  on  coming.  From  that  time 
on  to  its  present  magnitude  the  matter  has  been 
exploited  by  the  exaggerated  reports  sent  home 
of  the  land  of  marvels,  and  by  the  steamship 

The  extra  column  on  the  right  gives  the  numbers  of  all 
Greeks  from  both  enslaved  and  free  Greece.  The  other 
columns  are  those  from  the  kingdom  of  Greece  only.  Thus 
may  be  seen  the  growth  of  emigration  from  enslaved  Greece. 

2  An  accurate  and  excellent  account  of  the  causes  of 
Greek  emigration,  though  it  touches  that  from  free  Greece 
only,  is  given  in  "Greek  Immigration  to  the  United  States" 
by  H.  P.  Fairchild,  Chap.  IV.  With  Prof.  Fairchild's  per 
mission  I  have  used  a  little  of  his  material  in  the  remainder 
of  this  chapter.  See  Bibliography,  however,  for  a  criticism 
of  the  rest  of  this  book. 


18  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

agents  who  soon  became  ubiquitous  and  unscrupu 
lous.  It  were  well  to  remark  that  from  the  king 
dom  of  Greece  neither  religious  oppression  nor 
government  oppression  were  ever  factors  forcing 
emigration  for  freedom's  sake,  as  has  been  the 
case  in  some  other  lands.  This  is  simply  be 
cause  Greeks  are  above  all  else  Orthodox  and 
patriots,  and  such  oppressions  are  unknown  in 
the  Kingdom.  Nor  have  social  inequality  or 
class  hatred  ever  been  motives  for  emigration  to 
the  democratic  Greek;  nor  has  overpopulation. 
The  cause  was  economic. 

Let  us  add  another  reason,  and  that  a  truly 
noble  one,  for  the  poverty  of  the  country, — an 
expenditure  amounting  to  many  millions.  I  mean 
the  never  neglected  obligation  of  the  little  King 
dom  to  aid  her  enslaved  and  persecuted  children 
in  Crete,  the  Islands,  Macedonia,  Epiros,  Thrace, 
etc.  The  massacres,  revolutions,  and  consequent 
care  of  thousands  of  exiles,  and  the  Greek 
schools  and  philanthropic  institutions  supported 
in  enslaved  Greece — to  cope  with  all  these  Free 
Greece  has  been  obliged  to  borrow  much  money. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  some  twenty  years  ago, 
eagerly  catching  at  the  reports  of  their  few  fel 
low-countrymen  already  in  America,  the  poverty- 
stricken  peasants  left  home  for  this  new  land  of 
promise.  The  Transvaal  was  tried  for  a  while, 
but  with  little  success.  The  drop  in  currants 
struck  the  mountain  districts  of  the  Peloponnesus 
the  hardest,  and  it  was  there  that  this  induced 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  GREECE        19 

stage  of  emigration  began.  Soon  glowing  re 
ports  from  these  first  came  back  and  then  the 
rumor  spread  out  and  out.  After  some  time  the 
fever  jumped  to  central  Greece ;  and  of  late  years 
it  has  spread  up  into  the  districts  of  Enslaved 
Hellas :  Epiros,  Thessaly,  Macedonia,  Thrace,  the 
Islands,  and  on  over  the  JEgean  to  Smyrna  and 
the  surrounding  Greek  inhabitants  of  Turkey  in 
Asia.  Look  again  at  the  table  of  statistics  and 
see  this  growth  to  its  present  amazing  propor 
tions.  "Once  started,  this  movement,  like  the  fa 
miliar  chain  letter,  could  not  be  checked,  but 
grew  by  its  own  multiplication.  Each  Greek  in 
America  became  the  nucleus  of  a  rapidly  increas 
ing  group  of  his  kin  and  neighbors." 

In  the  90's  came  a  notable  fall  in  exchange. 
$100  sent  home  from  America  became  900  francs, 
which  was  to  the  peasant  a  small  fortune.  The 
recent  rise  in  exchange  could  not  check  the  tide 
of  emigration.  $100  is  now  worth  only  500 
francs. 

In  the  late  90's  more  and  more  reported  cases 
of  prosperity  in  America  made  the  poor  Greek 
farmer  open  his  eyes.  "He  who  was  our  poor 
neighbor  has  now  become  rich  and  a  great  and 
honored  man;  let  us  go  too.  Distinguished  suc 
cess  is  certain  in  America."  But  no  one  in 
Greece  really  knew,  nor  do  they  know  now,  the 
conditions  as  they  actually  are  in  America.  All 
are  doomed  to  bitter  disillusionment,  when  they 
find  here  hard,  inevitable  toil,  the  like  of  which 


20  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

they  never  dreamed  of  at  home.  In  the  father 
land  they  never  consulted  a  clock  as  to  what  time 
to  get  out  of  bed ;  there  they  did  not  work  in 
bad  weather,  but  only  when  they  pleased;  no 
hoarse  factory  whistle  summoned  their  immediate 
obedience;  no  boss  called  them  to  time.  It  is 
because  in  Greece  no  one  is  ever  obliged  to  be  on 
time  that  we  find  that  the  Greeks  we  meet  here 
have  as  a  rule  no  conception  of  punctuality. 
Nor  did  they  expect  the  wretched  tenements  in 
which,  in  order  to  pay  their  debts  and  support 
the  family  left  at  home  in  the  pure  air  of  the 
hills  of  Hellas,  crowds  of  men  are  obliged  to  herd. 
Nor  could  they  foresee  the  danger,  the  disease, 
the  ever  ready  pitfalls  of  temptation,  the  exploita 
tion  by  vagabond  compatriots  or  unscrupulous 
Americans.  But  once  here,  shame  and  lack  of 
money  prevents  the  return  home  and  they  have  to 
buckle  down  to  hardest  work,  often  amid  the 
dregs  of  mankind  and  regarded  themselves  as  such 
by  Americans.  Shame,  too,  prevents  their  writ 
ing  to  the  friends  at  home  the  truth.  So  they 
are  prone  to  enlarge  on  their  situation,  and  back 
go  highly  colored  reports  of  salary,  position,  and 
glowing  prospects  of  success.  For  example,  a 
waiter  in  a  hotel  sends  a  photograph  of  himself, 
seated  in  an  automobile,  wearing  a  heavy  watch 
chain  and  a  big,  cheap  ring.  They  think  he  is 
rich.  His  two  cousins  take  the  next  boat  for 
New  York.  Clippings  from  the  Greek  newspa 
pers  in  America  are  enclosed  to  relatives,  contain- 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  GREECE    21 

ing  accounts  of  weddings',  baptisms,  contributions 
for  some  patriotic  purpose  by  a  Greek  society, 
and  the  like.  These  are  read  in  the  villages  and 
do  much  to  incite  emigration.  That  the  wedding 
of  a  poor  peasant  should  figure  in  a  newspaper 
and  be  so  brilliant  a  social  event,  under  such  fine 
auspices — such  a  report  of  a  peasant's  wedding 
would  never  have  been  published  in  a  newspaper 
in  Greece!  Then  there  are  translated  and  sent 
home  items  from  the  American  papers  themselves 
of  the  excellence  of  Greek  confectioners'  and  flor 
ists'  establishments !  And  here  is  the  news  that 
Andropoulos,  the  poor  shepherd  who  was  nothing 
in  his  native  village,  has  attained  the  exalted  rank 
of  President  of  the  Society  of  the  Arcadians  in 
the  world-famed  metropolis  of  Chicago!  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  the  Greek  peasants  look  on  the 
United  States  as  a  land  of  ease  and  glory?  Even 
if  they  are  told  the  truth  of  the  grinding  work 
and  hardships,  they  will  not  believe  it — for  do 
they  not  hear  from  all  sides  that  it  is  otherwise? 
A  great  deal  of  these  glowing  accounts  was 
and  is  the  work  of  the  ubiquitous  steamship 
agent.  He  looms  large  as  a  factor  in  the  ex 
ploitation  of  Greek  emigration. 

"Given  the  stimulus  and  the  goal,  all  that  remained 
to  be  provided  was  the  means  of  migration — the  ma 
terial  means  of  conveyance  and  the  financial  means  to 
defray  the  expenses.  Both  of  these  were  promptly 
forthcoming;  steamship  agents  are  never  slow  to  seize 
opportunities  such  as  existed  in  Greece  at  the  time  in 


22  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

question,,  and  all  the  principal  Mediterranean  steam 
ship  lines  established  agencies  in  the  Piraeus,  Patras 
and  other  ports,  as  well  as  in  most  of  the  important 
interior  cities  and  villages.  Emigration  agents  began 
to  scour  the  country,  exciting  the  imagination  of  the 
peasants  as  to  the  glories  and  opportunities  in  Amer 
ica,  clearing  away  the  difficulties  which  seemed  to  be 
set  the  passage,  and  in  many  cases  advancing  the 
money  for  the  trip.  In  other  cases,  if  the  prospective 
emigrant  could  not  get  together  sufficient  money  at 
home,  it  was  furnished  him  by  some  friend  or  relative 
in  America.  Just  how  large  a  part  in  this  movement 
has  been  played  by  emigration  agents,  legally  and 
illegally,  it  would  be  impossible  to  say.  In  matters  of 
this  kind  the  Greek  is  extremely  deep  and  crafty, 
and  it  would  be  the  work  of  months,  perhaps  of  years, 
for  a  skilled  detective  actually  to  make  out  a  case 
against  the  Greek  emigration  agents.  .  .  .  One  of  the 
first  things  that  attracts  the  eye  of  the  traveler  land 
ing  in  the  Piraeus  is  the  amazing  number  of  American 
flags  flying  from  office  buildings  all  along  the  water 
front  and  the  neighboring  streets;  their  significance  is 
somewhat  perplexing  until  he  learns  that  they  are 
steamship  offices  or  emigration  agencies — for  there  is 
no  great  distinction  between  the  two."  3 

The  money  thus  furnished  is  generally  secured 
by  mortgages  on  the  property  of  the  emigrant. 
Almost  every  important  Atlantic  steamship  com 
pany  has  an  agency  or  connection  in  at  least  one 
of  the  Greek  ports. 

For  the  past  five   or  six   years   facilities   have 

a  Fairchild,  pp.  79-80. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  GREECE    23 

been  greatly  enhanced  by  the  introduction  of  two 
regular  Greek  steamship  lines.  Now  the  emi 
grant  may  have  complete  Greek  surroundings  on 
shipboard  and  so  feel  at  home,  whereas  before 
there  was  much  reluctance  towards  the  strange 
ness  of  traveling  in  a  foreign  boat.  Moreover, 
while  it  used  to  take  much  longer  (from  twenty  to 
forty  days  by  embarking  at  the  ports  of  Genoa, 
Marseilles,  Havre,  or  elsewhere,  with  all  the 
dread  of  changing  boats),  now  the  voyage  can 
be  made  in  fifteen  days. 

One  other  phase  of  emigration  needs  to  have 
special  mention.  After  the  peasants  had  been 
flocking  to  our  shores  for  a  time  and  sending  back 
their  wondrous  reports,  the  better  class  of  Greek 
citizens  began  to  take  notice.  "If  the  poorly 
qualified  peasant,"  these  argued  to  themselves, 
"can  become  so  prosperous  in  America,  how  much 
greater  are  the  prospects  for  men  of  education 
and  enlightenment."  And  so  this  new  and  latest 
phase  has  been  before  us  in  ever  increasing  num 
bers  for  the  past  ten  years  or  so.  The  fallacy  in 
the  expectations  of  this  class  and  how  they  are 
really  less  desirable  immigrants  to  our  country 
than  the  peasants  will  be  discussed  later. 

When  we  turn  to  enslave^  Greece  we  find  that 
the  primary  causes  of  emigration  there  were 
quite  different  from  those  in  the  case  of  the  free 
Kingdom.  Of  the  wholesale  emigration  of  Greeks 
from  the  Turkish  Empire  in  the  last  five  or  ten 
years,  the  main  cause,  if  not  the  only  one,  has 


24  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

been  the  political  anomaly  of  Turkey  bringing 
destitution  and  danger  upon  the  Christians  and 
especially  the  Greeks.  After  the  Constitution 
was  declared  they  fared  worse  than  before.  All 
sorts  of  persecutions  became  of  daily  occurrence, 
and  murder  was  not  infrequent.  Among  the  as 
sassinations  that  have  taken  place  in  the  past 
few  years  before  the  Balkan  war,  were  those  of 
two  bishops,  several  priests,  and  many  other 
prominent  Greeks.  Compulsory  service  of  the 
Greek  young  men  in  the  Turkish  army,  where 
neither  their  religion  nor  their  morality  was  safe 
guarded,  also  drove  many  to  leave  the  land  of 
oppression  and  take  ship  for  the  "land  of  the 
free." 


II 

THE  EARLY  HARDSHIPS 

We  have  traced  the  causes  and  growth  of  emi 
gration  as  it  came  about  in  Greece,  let  us  now  go 
back  and  see  what  happened  to  the  emigrant  after 
he  reached  the  promised  land.  First  we  will  look 
at  those  early  immigrants  of  the  80's  and  before. 
They  came,  as  we  have  stated,  in  these  periods 
first  by  tens,  then  by  hundreds.  Nearly  all  of 
these  were  natives  of  the  mountain  regions  of  the 
Peloponnesus,  poorly  educated  farmers  and 
shepherds.  New  York  was  their  first  settling 
place,  then  later  Chicago,  Boston,  and  a  few  other 
large  cities. 

It  was  a  tale  of  hardship  and  adventure.  Some 
one  of  the  first  in  New  York  struck  upon  the 
happy  scheme  of  buying  a  little  candy,  and  with 
a  tray  hung  about  his  neck  he  wandered  the  streets 
of  the  great  city  and  eked  out  a  meagre  living  by 
selling  to  passersby.  The  other  Greeks  as  they 
landed  in  America  followed  his  example;  and  by 
1882  we  find  over  a  hundred  Greeks  peddling 
candy,  fruit,  and  flowers.  This  was  the  start  of 
that  business  of  catering  to  these  minor  wants  of 
us  Americans  for  which  in  later  years  the  Greek 
has  become  so  well  known. 

25 


26  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

After  the  tray  peddler  had  learned  a  few  Eng 
lish  words  and  saved  a  bit  of  money,  he  got  him  a 
push  cart  and  established  his  trade  at  some  street 
corner.  This  was  before  the  days  of  strict  ped 
dler  licensing.  After  some  time,  when  he  had  ac 
cumulated  a  little  capital,  he  set  up  a  candy, 
flower,  or  fruit  store.  It  was  about  1885  that  the 
first  Greek  shop,  that  of  a  florist,  was  established 
on  Columbus  Avenue  in  New  York.  (Perhaps  a 
Boston  shop  antedated  this?)  Such  was  prob 
ably  the  evolution  of  the  individual  cases,  and 
those  who  found  their  way  to  Chicago  or  Boston 
did  likewise.  They  lived  somewhere  and  somehow 
in  poor  tenements,  several  clubbing  together  to 
rent  a  room. 

In  the  year  1885  one  of  them  had  the  initiative 
to  establish  a  Greek  restaurant  in  the  lower  East- 
side  of  New  York,  on  Roosevelt  Street.  It  was  a 
poor,  forlorn  affair;  yet  to  the  lonely  immigrant 
it  meant  comradeship  and  a  breath  of  home. 
This  the  peddlers  made  their  rendezvous.  Here 
they  found  the  cooking  and  manners  of  home,  and 
here  they  could  discuss  their  own  present  interests 
and  the  affairs  of  the  fatherland. 

These  were  years  of  struggle,  filled  with  many  a 
hardship  and  adventure  for  these  poor  men,  placed 
amid  a  language  and  people  and  customs  and  life 
utterly  strange.  Sometimes  a  peddler  would  be 
set  upon  by  street  gamins  or  older  roughs,  his 
tray  or  cart  upset  and  all  his  wares  stolen.  These 


THE  EARLY  HARDSHIPS  27 

and  other  things  scared  them.  Oftentimes  the 
Greeks  were  cheated  by  unscrupulous  merchants 
or  employers ;  and  the  self-termed  "agents,"  men 
of  their  own  people  or  of  other  foreign  nationali 
ties,  exploited  them  shamefully.  Many  must  be 
the  forlorn  and  thrilling  stories  of  the  trials  of 
these  first  immigrants  if  they  should  be  told. 

Here  is  one  romantic  incident  of  these  early 
days.  In  the  year  1888  a  company  of  150  im 
migrants  had  just  landed  in  New  York.  The  rep 
resentatives  of  a  Greek  and  Italian  labor  agency 
found  them  wandering  about  the  streets  and  en 
gaged  them  for  the  job  of  constructing  a  railroad 
way  up  in  eastern  Quebec.  So  off  they  were 
shipped,  the  whole .J2iinch_oif._jthem,  to  Canada. 
After  working  just  one  week  the  concern  failed, 
and  the  Greeks  were  stranded.  There  they  were 
in  a  wild  region  of  a  strange  land,  without  money 
or  food  or  a  knowledge  of  a  word  of  the  language 
of  the  country,  and  without  a  guide  to  show  them 
the  way  back.  How  they  did  it  no  one  can  tell ; 
but  sticking  together,  they  struck  off  south 
through  the  deep  woods,  and  after  many  days  of 
untold  suffering,  living  on  berries  or  whatever  else 
they  could  find  in  the  forest,  they  at  last  came 
upon  a  clearing  which  was  a  village  in  Maine. 
The  good  people  there,  led  by  the  ministers  of 
the  place,  treated  them  with  the  utmost  kindness 
and  hospitality,  and,  all  contributing,  paid  their 
fares  to  Boston,  where  they  found  a  colony  of  their 
own  people. 


28  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

By  the  end  of  this  preliminary  epoch,  the  year 
1890,  we  find  a  few  thousand  Greeks  scattered 
about  in  the  largest  cities. 


Ill 

IMMIGRATION  FROM  1891  TO 
1913 

In  the  last  chapter  we  were  dealing  with  mere 
beginnings ;  we  come  now  to  growth.  As  we  have 
seen  by  the  table,  from  1891  to  the  present  has 
been  the  period  of  immigration  proper,  increasing 
in  volume  by  leaps  and  bounds.  We  are  now  go 
ing  to  try  to  describe  what  has  happened  to  all 
these  Greeks.  If  the  story  seem  confused  and  il 
logical  in  sequence,  we  crave  the  reader's  indul 
gence,  for  there  are  so  many  and  so  differing  de 
velopments  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  logical  order. 
We  shall  trace  the  developments  in  two  chapters 
under  the  heads  of  Industrial  and  Institutional 
Development ;  although  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
subheadings  may  not  always  fit  these  titles.  Each 
development  or  phase  will  be  treated  separately: 
as  the  candyshop,  the  bootblacks,  the  hotel  em 
ployees,  the  factory  workers,  the  western  railroad 
laborers,  etc. ;  and  the  Orthodox  community,  the 
societies,  the  newspaper,  the  family,  the  school. 

To  view  the  whole  composite  picture  in  its  right 
perspective,  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that 
many  of  the  developments  were  simultaneous. 


30  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

The  flood  of  immigration  poured  in  through  the 
few  ports,  at  first  a  small  flow,  then  rapidly  in 
creasing  in  volume;  and  it  spread  itself  out  in 
streams,  first  small,  then  large,  all  over  the  coun 
try.  Moreover,  in  each  locality  the  streams  came 
to  rest  in  various  channels,  similar  to  those  of 
other  localities,  as  each  immigrant  sought  to  earn 
his  living.  (This  is  the  Industrial  Development.) 
Also  the  channels  combined  in  similar  ways,  as  the 
institutions  of  intercourse  and  fellowship  arose  in 
the  various  centers.  (This  is  the  Institutional 
Development.)  So  it  went  on  till  now  we  find  in 
most  of  the  large  cities,  and  many  of  the  smaller 
ones,  colonies  of  Greeks  ranging  from  100  to  20,- 
000  or  even  more.  Also — and  this  seems  a  broad 
statement,  but  it  is  true — in  practically  every  city 
or  town  of  any  appreciable  size  in  the  United 
States  there  are  now  to  be  found  at  least  one  or 
two  Greeks.  Probably  there  is  no  one  of  the  more 
recent  races  of  immigrants  some  of  which  total 
many  more  than  the  Greeks,  which  is  so  universally 
disseminated  in  every  part  of  our  country. 

Some  particular  characteristics  hold  for  prac 
tically  all  these  Greeks,  which  we  need  to  keep  in 
mind  throughout.  They  are  patriots,  loving 
their  native  land,  and  with  a  keen  knowledge  of  its 
past  as  well  as  present  political  events.  They  are 
members  of  the  Holy  Orthodox  Eastern  Church, 
for  Greece  and  the  Church  are  inseparable.  They 
nearly  all  have  had  more  or  less  schooling,  some 
a  great  deal, — 90  per  cent,  surely,  can  read  their 


IMMIGRATION  1891  TO  1913          31 

Greek  newspapers.  They  are  extremely  clannish. 
Finally  most  of  them  have  the  typical  Greek 
genius  for  adaptability  and  versatility  in  busi 
ness. 

Accordingly,  with  these  general  facts  in  mind 
of  continuous  and  rapid  increase,  of  widespread 
dissemination,  and  of  typical  characteristics,  let 
us  now  proceed  to  consider  separately  the  partic 
ular  industries  and  institutions. 


IV 
INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

By  industrial  development  we  mean  simply  an 
account  of  the  various  ways  in  which  the  immi 
grants  have  earned  money.  With  the  newcomer, 
in  the  majority  of  cases  the  money  earned  must  go 
for  paying  back  what  he  borrowed  to  buy  his  pas 
sage  over,  for  the  support  of  the  family  left  be 
hind  in  Greece — this  is  a  most  sacred  duty  to 
every  Greek — and  incidentally  for  the  support  of 
himself.  All  this  means  hard  work  and  hard  liv 
ing  conditions.  It  is  the  ambition  of  most  Greeks, 
whatever  menial  employment  they  have  been 
obliged  to  start  with,  to  set  up  for  themselves  in 
independent  business.  Many  have  attained  this 
ambition,  and  shown  remarkable  aptitude,  some  be 
coming  rich ;  and  also,  reports  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding,  most  of  them  show  business 
honesty,  better  at  any  rate  than  that  of  some  of 
the  Americans  with  whom  they  have  to  deal. 

We  choose  to  mention  first  the  cigarette  manu 
facturers  and  the  importing  houses,  not  because 
they  are  the  chief  occupations  in  point  of  numbers 
(rather  they  are  the  least),  but  because  the  best 
examples  of  them  are  typical  of  the  acme  of  the 
immigrant's  success.  Remember,  we  are  treating 
here  only  of  the  immigrant,  the  peasant  class  in 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         33 

the  main.  The  directors  of  great  Greek  mercan 
tile  houses  in  America,  mentioned  in  a  later  chap 
ter,  are  not  immigrants,  but  of  that  band  of  finan 
ciers  from  the  upper  stratum  of  Hellenes  famous 
long  before  the  period  of  immigration. 

CIGARETTE  MANUFACTURERS 
Just  before  the  Spanish  War  two  Greek 
brothers  by  the  name  of  Stephanos,  peasants  from 
Epiros,  started  this  business  on  a  capital  of  $35. 
They  began  by  buying  a  few  pounds  of  tobacco 
and  rolling  cigarettes.  During  the  Spanish  War 
they  sent,  as  presents  to  the  officers  of  the  United 
States  army,  boxes  of  their  cigarettes.  This 
happy  advertizing  expedient  set  the  ball  rolling, 
and  in  ten  years  they  were  millionaires.  Now 
they  own  one  of  the  largest  cigarette  factories  in 
the  country,  in  which  they  employ  some  hundred 
of  their  fellow-countrymen.  This  is  on  Walnut 
Street,  Philadelphia.  As  smoking  Americans 
know,  the  Stephanos  cigarettes  are  sold  all  over 
the  country  and  are  of  a  high  grade.  The  first 
cigarettes  made  by  Greeks  in  this  country  were 
those  of  one  Anargyros,  who  began  in  New  York 
nearly  twenty-five  years  ago.  Ten  years  back  he 
sold  out  to  the  American  Tobacco  Company  and 
returned  to  Greece  a  rich  man.  These  are  the 
familiar  "Turkish  Trophies"  with  the  name  "An 
argyros"  stamped  on  every  box.  M.  Melachrinos 
&  Company,  214  West  47th  Street,  New  York,  has 
a  big  establishment,  the  product  of  which  is 


34  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

widely  sold.  There  in  five  years  a  fortune  was 
made.  Let  these  serve  as  examples ;  there  are  sev 
eral  smaller  concerns  of  equal  rank  in  this  line 
doing  a  large  business. 

IMPORTERS 

About  1895  the  Greeks,  who  were  by  that  time 
settled  by  hundreds  in  New  York  and  Chicago, 
felt  the  need  of  bringing  the  produce  of  Greece 
to  this  country,  not  only  for  their  own  consump 
tion  and  that  of  other  Oriental  peoples,  but  also 
for  the  American  market.  The  first  importing 
house  to  be  established  was  that  of  Lekas  & 
Drivas,  at  17  Roosevelt  Street,  New  York,  the 
identical  place  where  ten  years  before  was  started 
that  little  restaurant,  the  first  rendezvous  of  the 
early  immigrant.  This  firm  succeeded  well,  and 
little  by  little  their  business  grew  until  now  they 
distribute  all  over  the  United  States.  Others  fol 
lowed  their  example,  first  in  New  York  and  later 
in  Chicago  and  Boston.  Lately  the  importations 
from  Greece  reached  the  amount  of  $3,000,000 
in  one  year.  These  imports  are  black  olives,  olive 
oil,  Greek  cheese,  wine,  liqueurs,  dried  fish,  sar 
dines,  figs,  etc.,  etc.  Tobacco  from  Greece  and 
Turkey  is  also  imported.  Currants,  that  chief  of 
Greek  exports,  are  imported  by  a  special  agency 
of  a  Patras  Company  in  New  York. 

CONFECTIONERY  AND  FRUIT  STORES 
These   are  the  most  widespread   and   generally 
successful  ventures  of  the  Greeks.     We  speak  of 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         35 

them  together  because  the  two  commodities,  candy 
and  fruit,  are  often  the  stock  of  the  same  store, 
along  with  the  inevitable  ice  cream  and  soda-water 
attachments.  We  have  considered  above  the  evo 
lution  of  the  candy,  fruit,  and  flower  store  from 
the  little  tray  of  the  first  immigrant.1  The  sec 
ond  or  push-cart  stage  is  still  to  be  seen.  At  the 
present  time,  so  rapid  has  been  the  growth  that 
there  is  actually  not  a  city  or  town  of  any  size  in 
the  country  without  at  least  one  Greek  confec 
tioner  or  fruiterer,  running  from  a  cheap,  though 
almost  always  clean,  place  to  the  very  height  of 
perfection  in  the  trade,  and  of  these  last  not  a 
few.  In  New  York  there  are  about  150.  But 
Chicago  is  the  shining  beacon  of  this  industry, 
where  are  over  400  confectionery  establishments, 
many  of  the  highest  class — almost  a  monopoly  of 
the  trade  there.  It  is  in  the  rapid  rise  in  this 
business  especially  that  the  Greek  immigrant  has 
gained  the  greatest  prominence  before  the  busi 
ness  world.  Such  progress  is  certainly  worthy  of 
high  commendation.  There  are  also  some  very 

i  The  first  Greek  in  America  who  started  in  the  candy 
business  was  a  sailor  in  New  York,  a  native  of  Smyrna, 
about  forty  years  ago,  before  the  tide  of  emigration  set 
westward.  His  name  was  Hadzi  or  Hadzikiris.  From  a 
peddler  he  became  a  great  manufacturer  of  candy.  Among 
other  brands  he  put  out  the  well  known  "Rabat"  (a  Turkish 
name — Turks,  but  not  Greeks,  are  very  fond  of  sweets). 
He  organized  a  corporation  under  the  name  of  "Greek- 
American  Confectionery  Company,"  or  "The  Novelty  Candy 
Company."  Some  years  ago  he  sold  out  to  his  American 
partner  and  returned  to  Smyrna,  an  old  man. 


36  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

successful  wholesale  establishments  in  Chicago, 
New  York,  Boston,  and  the  southern  states.  (If 
the  reader  of  this  paragraph  wishes  to  see  for 
himself  what  a  Greek  candy  store  and  its  pro 
prietor  look  like,  he  can  find  one  within  five  or  ten 
minutes  walk  from  where  he  is  sitting;  i.  e.  if  he 
is  anywhere  near  a  sizable  collection  of  shops. 
Try  it,  gentle  reader,  and  see  if  this  assertion  be 
true.)  The  Greeks  have  been  of  immense  benefit 
in  encouraging  our  Pacific  coast  fruit  industry  by 
bringing  it  everywhere  in  the  eastern  states  in 
contact  with  the  consumers. 

FLORISTS 

The  150  Greek  florists  of  New  York  City  fur 
nish  a  remarkable  spectacle  of  Greek  enterprise. 
They  are  first  class  places,  and  form  a  kind  of 
monopoly.  It  is  through  them  that  the  Annual 
Greek  Ball  in  New  York  is  marvelous  in  floral 
decorations.  And  twenty  years  ago  these  same 
florists  were  carrying  their  whole  ephemeral 
stock  hung  about  their  necks.  There  are  fifteen 
or  twenty  florist  establishments  in  Chicago,  and 
some  in  Philadelphia  and  Minneapolis,  but  very 
few  anywhere  else.  Mayor  Gaynor  of  New  York, 
on  his  daily  walk  to  City  Hall,  gets  his  bouton- 
niere  from  a  Greek  flower  girl's  stand. 

RESTAURANTS 

Beside  catering  to  the  sweet  tooth  of  our  coun 
trymen,  and  especially  our  countrywomen  and 


INDUSTRIAL  BEVELtFMENT         37 

children — which  tooth  astonishes  the  Greek — 
Greeks  have  in  many  places  found  lucrative  the 
catering  to  the  American  stomach,  particularly 
by  the  chop  house  or  third  rate  restaurant.  In 
Chicago  there  are  600  to  800  of  these,  some  of 
high  class.  In  New  York  are  about  200,  most 
of  which  are  the  third  class  variety — 7th  Avenue 
is  lined  with  them.  Probably  the  only  really 
"second  class"  Greek  restaurant  in  New  York  is 
that  on  42nd  Street,  which  everyone  sees  and 
many  patronize  when  they  come  out  of  the  Grand 
Central  Depot.  It  is  that  of  the  Hotel  Athens. 
This  property,  land  and  building,  was  bought  four 
years  ago  by  the  proprietors,  Ringas  and  Poly- 
mero,  who  are  among  the  richest  of  the  Greeks 
in  America.  Fifteen  years  ago  they  were  poor 
lunch  room  men.  The  restaurant  business  has 
spread  much  of  late  years,  especially  in  the  south 
ern  states  where,  commercial  travelers  testify,  the 
Greeks  have,  by  their  clean  and  well  run  places, 
relieved  a  well-nigh  unbearable  condition  of  gas 
tronomic  malprovidence.  All  these  do  not  include 
the  Greek  restaurant  proper,  where  the  Greeks 
themselves  go  and  eat  Greek  food.  These  are 
found  in  every  good-sized  Greek  colony.  In  ev 
ery  colony  also  is  found  that  institution  peculiar 
to  Greek  and  other  Oriental  life,  the  coffee  house,2 
which  is  to  the  Greek  the  social  club,  reading  room, 

2  The  coffee  houses  of  England  are  really  Greek  in  or 
igin.  The  first  was  introduced  at  Baliol  in  1652  by  one 
Konopios,  a  Cretan. 


38  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

etc.  A  description  of  these  last  belong  rather  to 
the  later  chapters  on  Greek  life  and  will  be  treated 
there,  as  do  the  various  other  shops  that  have  been 
established  in  concentrated  Greek  quarters,  and 
exist  exclusively  for  the  Greeks. 

MISCELLANEOUS  SHOPS 

To  be  complete  we  must  mention  that  the 
Greeks,  like  other  people,  have  taken  up  in 
America  the  other  ordinary  lines  of  trade  for 
American  customers  as  well  as  Greek — as  grocers, 
barbers,  tailors,  furriers,  cobblers  and  others. 

BOOTBLACKS 

The  bootblack  stands  or,  to  put  it  more  gen 
teelly,  the  "Shoe  Shine  Parlors,"  operated  by 
Greeks  are  now  almost  as  familiar  a  sight  all 
over  the  land  as  the  Greek  candy  store.  They 
have  beaten  or  are  beating  the  Italian  trade  in 
this  line.  (Greeks  usually  do  win  in  competition, 
for  iji  addition  to  their  native  shrewdness,  they 
attend  to  business,  give  good  return  for  the  price, 
and  keep  good  looking  establishments ;  they  are 
invariably  polite  also,  and  affable  in  so  far  as 
they  can  speak  our  language.)  The  evolution  of 
this  industry  is  as  follows.  There  are  many  boot 
blacks  in  Greece,  not  established  in  "parlors,"  but 
walking  the  streets  with  their  boxes,  like  the  boot 
blacks  on  our  ferry  boats.  Some  young  fellow 
came  to  America  and  took  up  the  trade  which  he 
knew  at  home.  At  first  he  shined  shoes  in  a  saloon 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         39 

or  somewhere.  Then  he  set  up  a  chair  and  later 
several  chairs  outside  some  store  and  he  hired  one 
or  two  other  Greeks  to  help  him.  Finally  he  had 
capital  enough  accumulated  to  hire  a  room,  and 
then  he  employed  more.  Then,  after  a  while,  the 
best  of  these  employees  left  him  and  started  out 
for  themselves.  And  so  it  grew.  Often  a  suc 
cessful  man  comes  to  own  and  run  five  or  ten  es 
tablishments,  sometimes  in  different  cities.  Some 
prosperous  "parlors,"  after  they  have  been  "fixed 
up"  with  the  best  of  furnishings,  have  been  known 
to  sell  to  other  Greeks  for  $10,000  and  $20,000. 
Often  a  pool  room  and  tobacco  stand  is  run  in 
connection  with  the  bootblack  business.  The  ma 
jority  of  employees  in  this  industry  are  young 
fellows,  ranging  from  fourteen  to  twenty  years  of 
age  and  some  older.  Sometimes  a  room  js  hired 
by  the  employer  for  these  "boys"  and  their  food 
supplied.  The  contract  in  such  cases  reads,  "all 
expenses  included."  Often  the  boys  have  to  work 
hard,  often  not ;  but  the  hours  are  long,  as  ob 
viously  must  be  the  case  in  this  business.  The 
long  hours  are,  however,  by  no  means  an  unmiti 
gated  evil,  for  they  force  the  undeveloped  Greek 
boys  to  stay  in  one  place  and  under  the  eye  of 
their  countrymen,  and  thus  they  are  generally 
saved  from  wasting  their  money.  These  restric 
tions  also  keep  them  in  part  from  the  temptations 
among  the  kind  of  American  people,  and  especially 
girls,  that  they  would  meet  if  they  had  the  time 
for  "coming  into  touch  with  American  life  and 


40  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

learning  the  American  ways  of  doing  things,"  as 
some  social  workers  express  their  panacea  for  the 
salvation  of  immigrants.  Compare  the  results  of 
their  confined  conditions  with  the  spoiled  lives  of 
some  of  the  hotel  boys,  who  have  plenty  of  time  on 
their  hands.  The  Greek  bootblack  learns  thrift, 
and  sees  America  from  a  safer  distance,  and  is  the 
more  apt  to  turn  out  an  independent  and  self  re 
specting  business  man. 

HOTEL  EMPLOYEES 

In  our  large  cities  are  employed  great  numbers 
of  Greeks  in  the  big  hotels.  During  the  vacation 
months  many  of  these  go  to  the  summer  resort 
hotels.  They  hold  all  grades  of  rank  in  the  hotel 
working  army:  dish  washers,  omnibuses,  waiters, 
captains,  head  waiters,  and  bell  boys,  a  few  por 
ters,  some  assistant  cooks,  etc.  The  second  cook 
of  the  Touraine  in  Boston,  by  the  way,  is  a  Greek. 
For  the  waiters  with  the  numerous  tips  the  pay 
is  large.  But  because  of  that  big  pay  and  the 
free  time  off  and  the  low  class  of  people  they  work 
among,  some  of  these  Greeks  become  quickly 
spoiled,  throwing  away  their  money  in  bad  com 
pany  and  losing  their  positions.  Thus  with  these 
there  is  the  grave  temptation  to  work  down  rather 
than  up.  Among  the  hotel  employees  are  found 
a  large  proportion  of  the  best  educated  Greek  im 
migrants,  government  clerks  at  home,  University 
of  Athens  law  or  medical  students,  and  the  like, 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         41 

The  bell  boy  who  respectfully  carries  up  the  grip 
of  some  great  millionaire  American  pork-packer 
is  in  all  likelihood  the  much  more  cultured  man  of 
the  two. 

THEATERS 

This  is  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  put  in  the 
moving  picture  business  and  vaudeville  shows  with 
which  the  Greeks  have  been  successful.  They  run 
a  good  part  of  Coney  Island,  where  the  property 
and  concessions  owned  by  them  amount  well  into 
the  millions.  One  season  it  was  a  Greek,  John 
Economopoulos,  that  was  elected  "king"  of  the 
Mardi  Gras  there,  from  the  coupons  in  the  Even 
ing  World.  These  shows  are  to  be  found  mostly 
in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  others  of  the 
eastern  and  central  states.  West  of  the  Missis 
sippi  we  must  mention  one  man  of  remarkable  en 
terprise,  who,  with  headquarters  at  Seattle,  has 
come  to  control  a  large  number  of  theaters 
of  a  much  higher  grade  than  the  above,  through 
out  the  western  states.  This  is  the  k.  K.  Panta- 
zes,  a  native  of  Andros. 

FISHERIES 

We  ought  to  mention  somewhere,  so  let  it  be 
here,  the  two  purely  local  industries :  the  Greek 
fisheries  of  Narragansett  Bay,  Rhode  Island,  and 
the  unique  and  interesting  sponge  fishing  colony 
of  Tarpon  Springs,  Florida.  This  latter  we  shall 
describe  in  another  chapter. 


42  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

FARMING 

Curiously  enough — and  yet  naturally,  as  the 
trend  among  Americans  is  all  the  same  way — the 
Greek  peasant  has,  except  in  a  very  few  instances, 
never  taken  up  here  his  former  agricultural  or 
pastoral  pursuits.  What  a  splendid  thing  it 
would  be  for  America,  and  for  the  Greeks  too, 
if  the  thousands  of  Greek  farmers  and  shepherds 
who  have  landed  on  our  shores  could  be  persuaded 
to  repopulate  and  remake  our  deserted  farm  land, 
or  develop  the  untouched  tracts.  Or  if  only  the 
Greek  labor  "agents"  would  turn  their  ears  to  the 
deserted  farmers  and  supply  Greek  farm  hands, 
this  would  be  a  blessing  all  round.  In  California 
there  are  several  flourishing  farms  owned  and. 
run  by  Greeks,  and  in  some  instances  in  the  same 
state  Greeks  have  supplanted  the  Japanese  as 
vineyard  laborers.  There  are  also  a  few  Greek 
farmers  in  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  some 
of  the  southern  states. 

RAILROAD  LABORERS 

We  come  now  to  that  tremendous  army  of  day 
laborers  which  is  ever  pouring  into  and  over  our 
land  and  among  whom  are  the  lowest  types  and 
conditions.  This  army  is  divided  into  two  great 
wings,  the  mill  hands  of  the  East  and  the  railroad 
construction  laborers  of  the  West,  and  also  there 
are  the  miners  and  a  few  lumbermen  in  the  ex 
treme  West.  Let  us  leave  the  factory  workers 
until  the  last  and  take  up  the  others. 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         43 

Just  as  in  the  East  Italian  labor  is  generally 
employed  in  railroad  building  and  repairing,  so 
in  the  vast  West  this  work  is  done  by  gangs  of 
Greeks,  and  other  southeast  Europe  immigrants, 
in  every  state  from  Chicago  to  the  Pacific.  This 
kind  of  labor  was  taken  up  by  the  Greeks  only 
about  ten  years  ago.  In  the  winter  months  they 
flock  to  the  cities  and  live  in  harmful  idleness ;  in 
the  working  months  they  are  scattered  all  along 
the  railroad  lines.  Their  employers  have  found 
them  industrious  and  manageable  workmen.  Let 
us  quote,  translating  literally,  the  pathetic  ac 
count  by  my  friend  the  k.  Seraphim  G.  Canoutas 
of  what  he  saw  and  learned  in  his  trip  through  the 
West  (1911  Greek-American  Guide  pp.  391,  392). 

"The  laborers  on  the  railway  lines  and  other  out  of 
door  work  go  in  the  winter  months  to  the  nearest  cities 
and  winter  there,,  where  unhappily  most  of  them  spend 
their  meager  earnings,,  which  were  acquired  at  the  risk 
of  health  and  life,  especially  on  needless  things,  as 
gambling,  coffee  drinking,  carousals,  women,  and  such 
like.  Of  these  men  ninety  out  of  a  hundred  are  be- 
,tween  the  ages  of  twenty  and  forty-five!  A  Greek 
traveling  by  rail  over  these  immense  western  states 
cannot  but  feel  grief  and  sorrow  and  be  plunged  into 
sorrowful  thoughts,  when  he  sees  at  nearly  every  mile 
of  railway  little  groups  of  his  own  people  with  pick 
and  shovel  in  their  hands.  All  these  have  left  the 
beloved  fatherland,  their  families,  their  fellow-coun 
trymen,  and  their  lands,  and  come  there  to  build  and 
repair  railroads  in  the  hope  of  acquiring  a  few  thou 
sand  francs — instead  of  which  they  acquire  rheuma- 


44  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

tism,  tuberculosis,  venereal  diseases,  and  those  other 
ills,  while  others  are  deprived  of  feet,  hands,  eyes, 
and  some  their  lives !  This  is  unhappily  the  bitter 
truth.  If  any  one  wishes  to  be  persuaded  that  this  is 
really  so,  he  need  not  take  the  expensive  journey  to 
the  western  states,  but  need  only  follow  the  Greek 
newspapers  published  in  America,  especially  the  col 
umns  'Greeks  in  America — Deaths  and  Accidents  to 
Our  Fellow  Countrymen,  Arrests  for  Gambling,  etc.,' 
and  he  will  gain  some  idea  of  it." 

MINERS,   ETC. 

In  Colorado  and  other  western  states  (but  not 
in  the  Pennsylvania  mines)  a  goodly  number  of 
Greeks  have  become  miners.  In  this  work  the 
wages  are  high,  sometimes  more  than  $3.00  a  day 
for  the  most  dangerous  and  skilled  labor.  In 
Alaska  there  are  probably  some  five  hundred 
Greek  miners  at  the  present  time ;  formerly  there 
were  more.  There  are  some  Greeks  in  the  foun 
dries  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  etc. 
There  are  a  few  lumbermen  and  lumber  mill  la- 
borers  in  the  far  West.  Also  we  must  not  omit 
mention  of  the  Greek  employees  in  some  of  the 
great  slaughter  houses  of  Chicago,  Omaha,  Kan 
sas,  and  elsewhere. 

MILL  HANDS 

And  now  we  come  to  that  horde  of  Greek  mill 
hands,  which  class  are  becoming  so  familiar  a 
component  of  all  our  factory  towns,  especially  in 
New  England.  In  many  places  they  number  into 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         45 

the  thousands,  and  into  the  hundreds  in  many 
more.  A  new  Greek  lands  and  goes  at  once  to 
some  factory  town  where  he  has  friends.  He  gets 
a  job  in  the  mill  through  his  friends  or  a  Greek 
"agent."  Generally  he  begins  at  the  bottom,  and 
later  works  up  a  bit  to  more  skilled  labor.  On 
small  pay  and  hard  work  in  the  foul  factory  air 
— so  different  from  the  free  hillsides  of  Hellas — 
and  the  fouler  air  of  the  tenement  where  he  is 
obliged  to  herd,  he  scrapes  along,  striving  to  pay 
back  his  passage  money  and  support  his  family 
at  home  and  also  himself.  It  is  terribly  hard  at 
first,  a  bitter  disillusionment,  but  after  a  while  he 
betters  his  condition.  There  is,  however,  little 
chance  in  the  factories  for  the  Greek  to  display 
his  natural  enterprise  as  he  does  in  business  ven 
tures.  Indeed  it  is  independent  business  that  he 
looks  forward  to  some  day.  The  work  of  the 
Greeks  in  the  mills  is  probably  about  on  a  level 
with  that  of  other  nationalities.  They  are  gen 
erally  well  spoken  of  by  their  employers.  As 
with  the  railroad  laborers,  so  with  the  Greek  mill 
hands  this  mighty  inpouring  that  swirls  into  the 
muddy  hollows  of  our  factory  towns  is  typical  of 
recent  years.  Let  this  suffice :  a  fuller  and  clearer 
picture  of  this  great  class  of  Greek  immigrants 
will  be  given  when  we  describe  the  colony  in 
Lowell,  Massachusetts. 

"AGENTS" 

One  more  variety  of  industrial  activity  remains 
to   be   described,   that    of   the    so-called   "agent." 


46  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

This  designation  runs  all  the  way  from  some  petty 
faction  leader  who  happens  to  know  English  and 
acts  for  a  few,  or  some  unscrupulous  exploiter  of 
his  people  who  has  got  the  upper  hand,  to  the 
really  great  and  enterprising  contractor.  The 
"agent,"  however,  defies  exact  definition  because  of 
the  many-sidedness  of  his  occupation  and  the 
varying  rank  of  his  agenthood.  Yet  his  work  is 
often  very  important  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to 
the  American  employers.  He  may  be  a  power  for 
much  good  to  his  people  and  he  may  be  a  power 
for  much  harm.  In  the  following  true  life  his 
tory  you  may  see  how  at  least  one  "agent"  came 
to  be. 

'Tis  the  story  of  a  Greek — let  us  call  him 
Evangelos — as  he  told  it  to  me  in  his  back  office, 
with  no  idea,  at  the  time,  that  I  was  going  to 
publish.  He  was  brought  up  in  a  seashore  town 
of  southern  Peloponnesus  in  a  family  consisting 
of  the  parents,  three  brothers,  and  five  sisters. 
The  oldest  brother  went  to  the  University  of 
Athens  and  after  he  took  his  M.D.,  died.  There 
was  not  money  enough  left  to  give  Evangelos  a 
university  education.  Two  years  later,  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  he  set  off  for  Africa,  and  very 
soon  after  the  father  died.  Thus  Evangelos  had 
on  his  shoulders  the  support  of  his  mother,  an  old 
uncle,  four  sisters  (the  fifth  had  married),  and  also 
an  older  brother.  From  Africa  he  managed  to 
send  bits  of  money  home  till  he  was  stricken  with 
typhoid,  which  almost  ended  his  career.  His  sec- 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         47 

ond  sister  had  become  engaged,  but  as  the  family 
property  was  on  the  verge  of  foreclosure,  the 
friends  of  the  fiance  were  trying  to  persuade  him 
to  break  off  the  match.  In  desperation  the 
mother  borrowed  $400  for  the  inevitable  dowry. 
Home  then  sped  Evangelos,  his  pockets  bulging, 
paid  the  borrowed  dowry  money  and  also  half 
the  mortgage.  For  two  years  he  stayed  at  home ; 
but  like  most  Greeks  who  have  been  abroad,  rest 
lessness  came  upon  him  and  once  more  he  started 
forth  to  seek  his  fortune  and  his  dear  ones'  sup 
port.  This  time  the  goal  was  the  United  States. 
On  leaving  home  he  gave  strict  orders  to  his 
mother  never  to  let  the  girls,  his  sisters,  work. 
So  it  is  with  all  Greeks:  a  man  would  rather  cut 
off  his  right  hand  than  put  up  with  the  disgrace 
of  allowing  any  of  his  women  relatives  to  hire  out 
to  work. 

At  Marseilles,  where  he  intended  to  take  pass 
age,  Evangelos  failed  to  pass  the  medical  emi 
grant  examination  because  of  an  eye  trouble.  So 
on  the  advice  of  someone  he  took  passage  at  an 
other  port  in  the  second  cabin.  This  sadly  cut 
down  his  slender  pocketbook.  In  fact  after  he 
had  bought  his  ticket,  all  he  had  left  was  $10. 
On  shipboard,  because  of  his  knowledge  of  Italian, 
he  made  friends  with  an  Italian  physician  who 
was  also  traveling  second  class.  On  the  last  day 
of  the  trip  this  doctor  asked  him  why  he  looked 
so  woe-begone,  and  so  he  told  him.  Now  no  one 
may  land  without  some  money  in  his  pocket.  The 


48  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

good  doctor  immediately  lent  him  $60.  So  far, 
so  good — but  his  eyes  were  troubling  him  worse 
than  before.  When  the  ship  had  docked, 
Evangelos  showed  his  $60  and  then  stood  in  the 
line  moving  towards  the  dreaded  medical  inspector. 
His  turn  was  next —  But  the  gods  from  lofty 
Olympos  beheld  their  hero.  At  the  command  of 
Zeus,  crafty  Hermes  flew  swiftly  down  and  taking 
the  form  of  an  immigration  official,  called  aloud 
across  the  dock  to  the  doctor.  The  doctor  turns, 
and  walks  aside  a  little  way ; — like  an  arrow  sped, 
the  fleet-footed  Greek  has  passed  the  gate,  and 
his  form  is  lost  to  view  down  a  side  alley  in 
Brooklyn.  For  a  whole  year  after  that  he 
dreamed  he  had  been  sent  back  to  Greece. 

After  returning  the  $60  to  his  friend,  Evan 
gelos  took  the  train  for  a  New  Hampshire  mill 
town,  where  he  arrived  with  just  $1  in  his  pocket. 
This  he  at  once  spent  for  a  hotel  room  and  break 
fast.  Thus,  starting  square  with  fortune,  he  set 
out.  Again  his  knowledge  of  Italian  stood  him 
in  good  stead,  for  an  Italian  fruit  dealer  took  him 
in,  introduced  him  around,  and  lent  him  some 
money.  It  was  the  last  of  November  and  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  soon  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
snow  greeted  his  eyes.  Ah!  what  a  climate! 
what  a  shivering!  How  different  from  sunny 
Lakonia !  He  tried  to  learn  to  weave  in  the  mills, 
but  gave  it  up.  In  fact  he  did  nothing  for  a 
while  except  study  English  with  a  kind  Baptist 
minister.  He  promised  to  pay  the  Italian  in  the 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         49 

spring,  which  he  did,  and  got  work  in  a  grocery 
store  and  then  in  a  bleachery,  where  work  was 
often  slack. 

After  eight  months  he  changed  his  residence  to 
another  mill  town,  and  arrived  there  with  $15 
capital.  Here  he  worked  in  the  cloth  haul  of  the 
big  cotton  mill  for  $1.10  a  day  and  also  clerked 
in  a  store  for  two  evenings  a  week  at  $1.50.  At 
this  time  he  was  sending  from  $10  to  $15  a  month 
home.  After  a  time  he  got  a  job  as  foreman 
of  a  trolley  line  construction  gang  at  $2  a  day, 
along  with  which  he  did  several  other  money  mak 
ing  jobs  on  the  side.  Then  he  was  sending  home 
$20  a  month.  At  last  he  had  saved  for  himself 
the  sum  of  $470,  which  he  kept  in  His  room.  One 
night  he  found  that  $400  of  this  had  been  stolen ! 
Taking  the  remaining  $70  he  tried  to  assuage  his 
discouragement  in  Lowell  and  Boston  by  spend 
ing  the  rest.  Thus  he  had  to  start  square  with 
fortune  all  over  again. 

He  worked  in  a  bakery.  After  some  time  he 
started  one  of  his  own.  Next  he  opened  an  agency 
office  and  looked  after  the  interests  of  those  who 
would  buy  his  bread.  After  a  while  he  moved 
into  a  larger  office.  Thus  he  grew  into  a  full 
fledged  "agent"  with  his  duly  fitted  rooms,  selling 
tickets,  getting  people  jobs,  doing  their  banking, 
etc.,  etc.,  but  keeping  the  bread  business  going  all 
the  while,  and  ever,  with  true  Greek  ingenuity, 
dabbling  into  various  other  money  making  schemes. 
And,  of  course,  all  this  while  he  supported  the 


50  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

mother  and  three  sisters  at  home.  He  became  an 
acknowledged  leader,  at  times  a  sort  of  king  of  his 
community,  beloved  by  some,  hated  by  others,  yet, 
because  of  his  money,  to  be  reckoned  with  by  all. 
Thus  he  has  much  to  do  with  not  only  the  four 
or  five  hundred  of  his  own  countrymen  in  the  place, 
but  with  the  thousand  Mohammedan  Albanians 
and  other  Easterners  as  well ;  for  he  can  speak, 
beside  English  and  Greek, — Arabic,  Albanian, 
French,  and  Italian.  He  goes  with  an  immigrant 
to  the  dentist, -he  takes  charge  of  his  money  or 
lends  him  some,  gets  him  a  job  in  the  mills,  w7rites 
up  insurance,  gets  him  out  of  jail,  interprets  in 
court,  sends  for  a  priest  for  burials,  marriages, 
baptisms,  etc. — when  there  isn't  one  resident, 
which  is  often  the  case — and  does  a  thousand  and 
one  other  things.  As  is  always  so  in  such  cases, 
he  is  maligned  by  Americans  as  well  as  Greeks, 
accused  of  extortion,  etc.,  etc.,  several  times 
brought  to  court,  though  nothing  can  ever  be 
proven,  and  even  his  life  has  been  threatened. 

Two  years  ago  he  attained,  as  many  another 
Greek  has,  his  primary  ambition.  He  went  home, 
taking  with  him  $6000  and  returning  with  $1000. 
In  one  day  after  he  reached  the  Peloponnesan 
home  the  marriages  of  all  three  sisters  were  ar 
ranged.  He,  Evangelos,  paid  the  ample  dowries, 
and  he  also  paid  off  the  entire  balance  of  the  debt 
on  the  family  property.  Thus  gained  he  glory  in 
his  native  village  and  the  family  honor  was  vindi 
cated. 


INDUSTRIAL  DEVELOPMENT         51 

Of  course  he  returned  to  America,  for  America, 
no  longer  Greece,  seemed  home.  Now,  that  his 
sisters  are  provided  for,  but  not  till  now,  he  is  free 
to  marry  himself.  Of  course  he  still  has  his 
family  on  his  mind ;  in  fact,  when  he  told  me  this 
story,  he  showed  me  some  money  orders  which  he 
was  just  sending  as  a  present  for  the  relief  of 
a  sick  brother-in-lawT  and  for  other  relatives. 

This  instance  may  be  a  bit  unusual,  but  at  any 
rate  it  illustrates  some  of  the  things  that  immi 
grants  have  to  pass  through,  and  also  it  is  typi 
cal  of  the  usual  Greek  versatility  and  the  un 
swerving  Greek  loyalty  to  family  responsibility. 

With  this  let  us  close  the  account  of  the  varied 
industries  of  the  Greeks,  and  pass  on  to  their 
activities  in  combination.  To  be  complete  we 
should  perhaps  add  here  the  professional  class, — • 
physicians,  lawyers,  teachers,  and  also  the  clergy 
and  the  students, — but  we  will  leave  these  till  the 
end  of  the  next  chapter. 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  EVEN  DISTRIBUTION  OF 

GREEKS   IN  AMERICA   BY  SECTIONS  OF  THE 

UNITED   STATES    (APPROXIMATE) 

New  England 44,800 

New    York    to    Maryland,    inclusive     (New 

York  City  20,000  of  these)    54,950<- 

Ohio,  Indiana,   Illinois,   Michigan,  and  Wis 
consin  (Chicago  has  20,000  of  these)   .  .  51,300 

South  of  Maryland  and  the  Ohio  River 24,050 

West  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  States  48,600 

The  three  Pacific  States 29,000 

Total    252,700 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  saw  how  the  Greeks 
earned  their  living;  let  us  now  go  back  and  deal 
with  another  side  of  their  life  in  America.  Here 
have  come  these  hordes  from  the  homeland  to  a 
life  among  a  strange  people  and  language  and 
customs  and  laws  and  forms  of  religion.  It  has 
not  been  a  question  of  the  individual  coming  and 
fighting  alone,  but  of  a  great  migration.  Thus 
it  is  for  us  to  investigate  the  interesting  means 
by  which  they  have  banded  themselves  together 
for  mutual  support  and  communication  and  to 
keep  alive  the  patriotism,  the  religion,  and  the 
customs  of  the  fatherland.  Then,  too,  we  must 
consider  that  fundamental  social  factor,  all  im 
portant  to  the  salvation  of  the  colonies  of  men, 
the  bringing  over  of  their  families.  We  will 
treat  all  this  under  the  following  heads:  Com 
munities,  Societies,  Newspapers,  Books,  Families, 
and  Schools. 

COMMUNITIES 

To  use  the  k.  Canoutas'  distinction,  we  will  ap 
ply  the  word  "colony"  (Trapoi/a'a)  as  a  general 
term  to  any  group  of  Greeks  of  a  given  locality; 
and  "community"  (KOIVO'TT^)  as  a  specialized 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      53 

term  designating  a  regularly  organized  colony, 
centering  on  a  church  organization,  and  always 
called  "The  Orthodox  Greek  Community." 

The  rise  of  the  community  in  America  was  on 
this  wise.  It  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  period 
of  induced  immigration,  in  1891,  by  which  time 
the  Greeks  were  gathered  in  some  of  the  large 
cities  in  colonies  numbering  a  few  hundreds,  that 
Prince  George,  the  second  son  of  the  Greek  Mon 
arch,  passed  through  the  United  States.  He 
was  returning  home  from  a  visit  to  Japan,  where, 
it  will  be  remembered,  he  saved  the  Czar  of  Rus 
sia's  life  from  the  assassin's  hand.  On  landing 
in  San  Francisco,  he  was  met  by  a  demonstration 
of  a  few  hundred  Greeks.  While  stopping  for  a 
time  in  New  York,  he  received  at  his  hotel  a  few 
of  the  leading  Greeks  of  that  city,  and  he  left 
with  them  the  idea  of  organizing  a  Greek  society. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  the  five  hundred  or  so 
compatriots  of  New  York  established  the  society 
called  "The  Hellenic  Brotherhood  of  Athena," 
and  this  society  sent  to  Greece  the  request  for  a 
priest.  Life  at  home  without  the  Orthodox 
Church  and  the  parish  priest  had  been  unknown, 
and  so  the  immigrant  had  before  this  felt  the  ne 
cessity  of  such  a  step.  Almost  at  the  same  time 
another  organization  ("The  Therapnean,"  after 
wards  "The  Lycurgos  Society")  was  formed  in 
Chicago  for  the  same  purpose  of  establishing  a 
church,  and  in  a  short  time  a  second  priest  had 
been  called  for  and  sent  to  that  city.  Such  was 


54  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

the  beginning  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  communities 
in  America.1 

The  Chicago  community  has  had  a  continuous 
existence  to  the  present  time.  That  of  New  York 
was  spasmodic  at  first ;  so  also  was  that  of  Bos 
ton,  which  was  established  in  1899.  At  first 
these  three  communities  worshipped  in  hired  halls, 

i  There  was  an  earlier  Greek  church  long  before  the 
period  of  immigration,  built  and  organized  by  the  Greek 
cotton  merchants  in  New  Orleans  in  the  year  1867.  It  still 
flourishes;  and,  curiously  enough,  the  same  priest  who  was 
sent  to  the  first  community  of  New  York  in  1891  is  now 
its  pastor,  the  Rev.  P.  Ferentinos,  who  is  also  the  senior 
living  American  Greek  priest.  The  sacred  vessels  and  the 
vestments  of  this  church  were  given  by  the  Czar  of  Russia. 
It  is  also  worth  noting  that  the  administrative  council  of 
this  church  has  long  kept  its  minutes  in  the  English  lan 
guage. 

The  following  interesting  facts  also  must  not  be  omitted, 
although  since  we  are  dealing  here  with  only  Greek  com 
munities  they  must  be  consigned  to  a  footnote:  In  Chicago 
in  1882  a  Slavo-Hellenic  union  was  formed  and  called  a 
Greek-born  priest  of  Russian  education  to  minister  to  all 
the  Orthodox  churchmen  there.  In  Seattle  about  the  same 
date  the  Greek  sailors  who  had  settled  there  placed  them 
selves  under  the  Russian  bishop,  who  provided  a  Greek 
priest,  graduate  of  a  Russian  seminary.  Also  in  Galves- 
ton,  Texas,  some  Greek  sailors  established  a  church,  but 
being  unable  to  support  it,  gave  it  over  to  the  Russian 
bishop,  and  the  Divine  Liturgy  was  celebrated  in  both  lan 
guages.  But  in  all  these  places,  as  soon  as  the  Greeks  be 
came  numerous  enough,  they  established  their  own  purely 
Greek  church  communities  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Con 
stantinople  or  Athens.  These  are,  as  far  as  I  know,  the 
only  instances  of  Slavo-Hellenic  cooperation.  How  sad  it  is 
that  political  rancor  has  kept  and  still  keeps  hopelessly 
apart  in  America  the  members  of  these  two  great  branches 
of  the  Holy  Orthodox  Eastern  Communion. 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      55 

changing  these  from  time  to  time,  sometimes  clos 
ing  them  altogether.  The  rest  of  the  communities 
in  America  were  established  during  the  past  ten 
years. 

In  1898  the  Chicago  community  bought  a 
church  building,  the  first  owned  by  Greeks  after 
that  of  New  Orleans  (see  note  above).  In  1904 
the  New  York  Greeks  bought  a  church  at  151^ 
East  72nd  Street,  cost  $65,000;  in  1905,  those 
of  Atlanta,  Georgia;  all  the  rest  have  been  built 
or  bought  since  then.  The  churches  actually 
erected  by  the  Greek  communities,  most  of  them 
constructed  after  the  correct  Byzantine  pattern, 
number  sixteen:  Lowell,  Boston,  Ipswich,  Massa 
chusetts;  Manchester,  New  Hampshire;  Newark, 
New  Jersey;  Charleston,  South  Carolina;  Tarpon 
Springs,  Florida ;  Chicago  (2)  ;  Sheboygan,  Wis 
consin  ;  Minneapolis,  Minnesota ;  Pueblo,  Colo 
rado  ;  Salt  Lake  City ;  Portland,  Oregon ;  San 
Francisco;  and  also  one  in  Montreal.  Those 
buildings  bought,  formerly  Protestant  and  a  few 
Anglican,  number  twelve:  New  York  (1);  Phila 
delphia;  Nashua,  New  Hampshire;  Providence, 
Rhode  Island ;  Pittsburg ;  Baltimore ;  Atlanta  ; 
Savannah;  Birmingham;  Chicago  (1);  Milwau 
kee;  Denver.  A  few  of  the  above  are  free  from 
indebtedness.  The  other  communities  hold  their 
church  services  and  community  meetings  in  hired 
halls,  and  some  few  have  hired  Protestant  church 
buildings.  In  most  of  the  places  in  the  country 
where  are  settled  five  hundred  Greeks  there  have 


56  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

been  communities  organized.  At  the  present  time 
(1913)  the  American  communities  number  55  in 
the  United  States  and  2  in  Canada — Montreal 
and  Toronto. 

Those  communities  founded  by  well  established 
business  men  are  the  best.  Often  the  prosperity 
of  the  small  community  or  its  very  existence  de 
pends  on  an  uncertain  industry,  as  in  factory 
towns  or  among  railroad  construction  laborers. 
Often  the  smaller  ones  will  be  without  the  minis 
trations  of  a  priest  for  months  at  a  time  or  they 
will  have  an  occasional  service  or  ministration  by 
a  visiting  priest.  The  grievous  problem  of  many 
a  place  would  be  solved  if  only  the  several  poor 
communities  of  a  section  would  combine  under  one 
priest,  who  could  also  minister  to  the  isolated 
Greeks.  But  Greek  communities  will  rarely  com 
bine  amicably.  There  are,  I  am  told  from  reliable 
sources,  enough  Greek  priests  in  the  country  for 
the  emergency  calls  of  marriages,  baptisms  and 
chrism  and  burials.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not 
— and  it  does  not  seem  possible — assuredly  it  is 
a  grievous  fact  that  there  are  not  enough  to  min 
ister  to  the  lonely  dying,  nor  to  watch  over,  as 
careful  shepherds,  the  thousands  of  the  scattered 
living. 

The  Orthodox  Greek  Community,  which  is  the 
official  title  with  the  addition  of  the  name  of  the 
particular  locality,  is  an  association  of  Greeks 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  maintaining 
a  church  organization  and  for  holding  the  Greeks 


Holy  Trinity,  Lowell,  Mass. 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      57 

together.  They  arose  not  for  the  mere  sake  of 
organizing  something,  but  always  from  a  real  ne 
cessity.  Its  membership  consists  of  all  Greeks 
residing  in  a  certain  city  or  district.  All  belong 
to  the  community,  but  often  the  particular  con 
stitution  allows  votes  to  subscribers  only.  There 
is  an  executive  committee,  best  translated  "ad 
ministrative  council,"  and  the  usual  officers  of  any 
organization.  The  property  is  sometimes  in  the 
name  of  trustees,  sometimes  not.  About  half  the 
communities  are  incorporated  under  state  law,  in 
cluding  all  the  larger  ones.  But  there  is  much 
confusion  in  the  organization  of  many,  and  this 
is  the  cause  of  the  deplorable  and  often  ridiculous 
disputes  that  have  been  so  common.  Such  dis 
putes  seem  now  to  be  lessening. 

And  now  for  the  position  of  the  priest,  the 
pastor  (e^/ne'/oios)  of  the  community.  He  has 
no  power  as  far  as  the  written  constitution  goes. 
Thus  we  find  a  most  anomalous  condition  in  the 
Greek  churches  in  America.  It  works  out  some 
times  like  the  worst  side  of  the  vestry  system  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  parishes,  without  the  legal 
rights  of  the  rector,  nor  the  possibility  of  inter 
vention  by  the  Bishop ;  or  another  analogy  might 
apply  in  some  instances, — Congregationalism  run 
wild  in  a  mission  of  the  Apostolic,  Catholic,  East 
ern  Church!  From  afar  the  Metropolitan  Arch 
bishop  of  Athens 2  rules  without  the  possibility 

2  The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  has  ceded  to  the  Holy 
Synod  of  Athens  the  charge  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  missions 
in  America. 


58  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

of  settling  anything,  much  as  the  Bishop  of  Lon 
don  had  charge  of  the  Anglican  parishes  in  this 
country  before  the  Revolution.  So  the  Greek 
priest  is  hired,  and  often  "fired,"  by  a  parish  com 
mittee  composed  usually  of  poorly  educated  peas 
ants.  And  thus  come  the  wranglings  and  dis 
putes  and  divisions  into  two  rival  church  com 
munities  of  a  city;  and  thus  the  poor  priests, 
sent  out  by  the  Holy  Synod  in  response  to  the  cry 
for  spiritual  help,  sometimes  find  themselves  as 
office  boys  at  the  mercy  of  their  employers. 
Moreover,  there  are  also  some  priests  who  have  no 
right  here ;  these  are  Macedonians,  mostly  of  fit- 
tie  education,  who,  coming  to  America,  have 
slipped  their  bishop's  jurisdiction  and  are  min 
istering  without  authority  wherever  they  can 
make  the  most  money,  sometimes  underbidding 
and  ousting  the  priests  sent  by  a  bishop.  Of 
course,  conditions  are  not  everywhere  bad  in  com 
munities,  but  the  system  is  sadly  irresponsible. 
The  only  solution  seems  to  be  a  resident  bishop 
for  America;  may  his  advent  be  soon! 

SOCIETIES 

We  have  seen  that  in  some  places  societies  were 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  arousing  the  inter 
est  and  funds  for  the  establishment  of  communi 
ties  and  the  calling  of  a  priest.  With  the  great 
influx  of  immigrants  during  the  past  five  or  six 
years,  associations  with  other  objects  sprung  up 
everywhere  until  now  there  is  at  least  one  society 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      59 

of  some  sort  in  probably  every  town  or  city  where 
there  are  over  a  hundred  fellow-countrymen.  Most 
of  these  are  benevolent  or  patriotic  in  purpose,  or 
are  formed  for  the  banding  together  in  a  town  of 
all  the  Greeks  from  one  particular  locality  in 
Greece  or  Turkey.  In  the  large  communities  of  the 
great  cities  there  are  a  great  many-TQ~ch~~societies. 
-The  objects  are  to  cultivate  friendship  among  the 
members,  help  those  in  need,  care  for  the  sick  or 
provide  that  they  be  cared  for  in  hospitals,  pay 
funeral  expenses,  etc.  Kare  it  is,  almost  "^un 
known,  that  a  Greek  pauper  "goes  ^n_the_lowri^ 
or  is  aided  by  an  American  charity  organization. 
The  Greeks  are  too  proud  for  tha/L_and  theylook 
flfter  thp1'1*  nwn  TippHy.  Then,  too,  many  ^j-jthese 
societies  spnH  j^gjrtrjbutions  _home  to  helj>  _gome 
poor  church  or  school  or  hospital  or  orphanage 
and_ihe- like.  Such  benefactions  have  been  espe 
cially  welcome  among  the  Greek  districts  in  what 
were  till  this  year  Turkish  dominions,  where  the 
churches  and  schools  have  been  maintained  en 
tirely  by  voluntary  offerings.  For  example,  a  so 
ciety  in  Chicago,  made  up  entirely  of  men  from 
a  certain  town  in  Macedonia,  will  send  regular 
contributions  for  the  support  of  the  church  and 
school  in  their  home  village.  Here  is  an  interest 
ing  instance:  In  1910  a  Society  of  the  Panarge- 
ians  undertook  the  praiseworthy  resolve  to  give 
each  year  the  all  necessary  marriage  dowry  for 
one  orphan  girl,  chosen  by  lot,  in  the  native 
province  of  the  members.  At  times  of  great  ca- 


60  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

tastrophes  in  Greece,  Turkey,  and  elsewhere  these 
societies  stand  ready  to  contribute  their  little. 
On  the  occasion  of  the  San  Francisco  earthquake 
some  sent  contributions  for  the  relief  of  the  suf 
ferers.  T]iej^,are^--ox-_were  before  the  Balkan 
war  broke  out,  Yolujiteejr^cjonipanies  for  military 
drill  in  New  York,  Chicago,  Lowell,  Manchester 
and  Joshua,  New  Hampshire ;  Biddeford,  Maine; 
and__some_  other  places.  TheirTbrmer  members 
did  good  service  in  the  war.  In  New  York  there 
is  a  first-class  "Greek-American  Athletic  Associa 
tion,"  recognized  by  the  A.  A.  U.,  with  a  member 
ship  of  some  two  hundred  young  Greeks.  They 
have  their  own  gymnasium  in  the  basement  of  the 
30th  Street  Greek  Church,  and  hope  to  have  a 
better  one  soon.  These  descendants  of  the  ath 
letes  of  Ancient  Greece  have  won  many  a  prize  at 
A.  A.  U.  meets.3  There  is  also  in  New  York  a 
remarkable  society  of  Greek  women  called  the 
"Charitable  Fraternity"  or  "Sorority  of  Ladies" 
— or  shall  we  not,  transliterating  it,  invent  the 
interchangeable  term  "Adelphoty."  (College 
Greek  letter  societies  please  take  note  of  this  use 
ful  Hellenic  derivative.)  This  society  has  offices 
in  one  of  the  Greek  churches.  When  some  sick 
man,  who  is  not  a  member  of  some  society,  or  who 
is  brought  to  New  York  from  elsewhere,  turns  up, 

3  Why  does  someone  not  try  to  get  the  Greeks  to  start 
the  Boy  Scout  Movement  among  their  boys?  Other  for 
eigners  in  this  country  have  done  this.  It  would  be  just  the 
thing  to  interest  the  Greek  lad  and  keep  him  straight. 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      61 

these  ladies  care  for  him  and  furnish  his  ticket 
home  to  Greece.  Their  funds  are  raised  by  col 
lecting  at  the  church  and  among  the  Greek  shops, 
and  by  an  annual  ball.  The  two  Greek  trans 
atlantic  lines  offer  at  each  sailing  for  use  by  this 
society  several  tickets  at  reduced  rates,  and  some 
times  other  steamship  companies  do  the  same. 
Tlhere  are  like  women's  societies  in  Chicago,  Bos 
ton,  and  San  Francisco;  and  eacE  of  them  hold 
annual  balls,  the  receipts  from  which  go  for  be 
nevolent  objects.  Finally  there  are  a  few  socie- 
tiesT  like  American  business  associationsT  of  Greeks 
engaged  in  some  particular  line  of  business. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  number  and  varieties  of 
these  associations,  here  is  a  list  of  Greek  societies 
in  New  York  city  in  1911.  It  is  not  complete, 
and  some  have  doubtless  gone  out  of  existence. 

Association  of  Florists 

Association  of  Confectioners 

Charitable  Adelphoty  of  Ladies 

Greek-American  Athletic  Association 

Volunteer  Company  (Military) 

Naupactian  Brotherhood  (Members  from  this 
district  in  Greece) 

Skourovarvitsian  Brotherhood  (Members  from 
this  district  in  Greece) 

The  Phoenix,  Pan-Cretan  Society 

Hope  Society,  Imbrian 

Philoktetes,  Lesbian  Brotherhood 

Pittakos,  also  a  Lesbian  Brotherhood 


62  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Hephaistos,  Lemnian  Brotherhood 

Brotherhood  of  Marmara  (from  Thrace  near 
Constantinople  ) 

Ganochorriton  Brotherhood  (Thrace) 

Messenian   Society,  The  Annunciation. 

The  Olympos  Brotherhood  of  Litochoritons 
(from  Macedonian  district) 

Naoussaian  League    (Macedonia) 

Brotherhood  of  Kremastiotons  (Macedonia) 

Society  of  Deskate   (Macedonia) 

Brotherhood  of  the  Kozantinans  (Macedonia) 

Epirian  Concord  League 

Unanimity  Brotherhood  (from  some  particular 
district) 

The  Good  Hope  Brotherhood  (from  some  par 
ticular  district) 

The  Society  of  Demetsanitons,  Gregory  V  (the 
martyr  Patriarch  of  1821  from  his  birthplace  in 
Peloponnesus). 

There  is  also  another  kind  of  society  among  the 
Greeks,  which  will  appeal  especially  to  Americans, 
which  societies  have  for  their  object  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  immigrants  towards  naturalization  as 
American  citizens,  e.  g.  the  Hellenic-American  Po 
litical  Club  of  Tarpon  Springs,  Florida.  Such 
associations  exist  in  Atlanta,  San  Francisco,  New 
York,  Chicago,  and  elsewhere.  In  an  interview 
with  the  Sunday  World,  September  24,  1911,  Mr. 
Wallace,  Clerk  of  Courts  in  New  York,  said: 

naturaliza- 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      63 

tion  papers  are^Greeks."  In  the  past  few  years 
there  have  been  many  petitions  in  all  cities  by  the 
Greeks. 

THE  PAN-HELLENIC  UNION 

We  come  now  to  the  society  for  all  the  Greeks 
of  America.  The  idea  originated  with  the  great 
Anagnos.  (See  last  chapter  of  this  book.)  In 
1904,  two  years  before  he  died,  he  formed  an  or 
ganization  in  Boston  and  had  it  chartered  under 
the  name  of  "The  National  Union,"  with  objects 
much  the  same  as  the  present  society,  and  by  lec 
tures  in  New  York  and  Chicago  he  tried  to  found 
a  few  branches.  However,  with  his  death  the  plan 
fell  through.  After  a  year  or  so,  with  much  talk 
of  organization,  a  committee  of  the  presidents  of 
the  local  societies  in  New  York  and  some  oth 
ers  from,  elsewhere,  arranged  for  a  convention 
which  met  in  New  York  in  the  autumn  of  1907 
and  organized  under  the  name  of  "The  Pan- 
Hellenic  Union."  The  next  convention  was  held 
in  Chicago,  and  the  next  in  Boston.  In  1910  the 
headquarters  of  the  central  administrative  coun 
cil  were  fixed  in  Boston  for  four  years.  This 
was  the  real  beginning  of  the  society  as  it  is 
now.  Before  this  the  unit  of  membership  was  the 
local  society,  but  in  1910  this  was  changed  to  the 
individual,  regardless  of  society,  and  separate 
branches  under  a  central  administration  have 
been  established  all  over  the  country.  Thus  we 
have  a  new  phase  of  Greek  association,  distinct 


64  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

from  the  local  community  and  binding  together 
the  Greeks  of  different  localities  for  the  whole 
country.  During  the  working  out  of  its  organi 
zation  the  inevitable  Hellenic  factions  and  jeal 
ousies  arose  within  and  without. 

The  Pan-Hellenic  Union  is  certainly  a  splendid 
effort  and  will  increase  in  usefulness  as  it  grows. 
In  1911  it  comprised  some  eight  thousand  mem 
bers  in  fifty  branches ;  by  the  end  of  191£  it  had 
run  up  into  the  twenty  thousands  in  150  branches. 
Its  objects  are  to  protect  the  immigrant,  to  help 
him  in  sickness  and  poverty ;  to  assist  him  to 
become  familiar  with  the  laws  and  customs  of  his 
new  home,  and  yet  not  to  forget  his  fatherland, 
language,  or  religion ;  to  establish  schools ;  to  rem 
edy  factional  strife  and  other  abuses ; — in  general 
to  supervise  and  uplift  the  Greeks  in  America  as 
a  whole. 

The  first  Article  of  the  Constitution  reads  as 
follows : — 

1.  Objects  of  the  Pan  Hellenic  Union. 

The  Greeks  residing  in  the  U.  States  and  Canada 
do  hereby  ordain  and  establish  a  fraternity  which  shall 
be  known  as  the  Pan  Hellenic  Union. 

The  Pan  Hellenic  Union  shall  have  for  its  objects: 

a.  To    cultivate    among    its    members    and    through 
them   among  all   the   Greeks   residing  in  the   United 
States   and   Canada  the  spirit  of  mutual  aid  and  of 
love  for  their  own  nationality. 

b.  To  instil  veneration  and  affection  for  the  laws 
and  institutions  of  their  adopted  country  and  for  cul- 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      65 

tivation  of  friendly  relations  between  the  Greeks  and 
American  citizens. 

c.  To  teach  the   English  and  Greek  languages,  to 
preserve  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  and  to  develop 
and  propagate  educational  and  moral  doctrines  among 
the  Greek  compatriots  residing  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada. 

d.  To  procure  pecuniary  and  other  aid  for  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Union  and  those  dependent  upon  them, 
and,  as  far  as  its  means  will  permit,  to  extend  its  pro 
tection  to  Greek  immigrants  and  laborers. 

e.  To  secure  the  moral  and  material  assistance  of 
the  Union  toward  the  great  needs  of  the  Nation. 

The  men  at  the  helm  of  the  Union,  its  adminis 
trative  council,  are  not  immigrants,  but  men  of 
refinement  and  education,  professional  men  and 
representatives  of  the  great  Greek  commercial 
houses.  His  Excellency  the  k.  Coromilas,  ex-Min- 
ister  to  the  United  States,  did  much  for  the  work 
ing  out  of  the  problem  and  gave  the  Union  its  first 
by-laws.  The  past  president  was  Professor  Ion, 
formerly  on  the  faculty  of  the  Boston  University 
Law  School.  The  present  president  is  the  k. 
Sinadinos,  manager  along  with  ex-Consul  Ben- 
aki  of  the  Boston  branch  of  the  great  Egyptian 
cotton  house  of  Choremi  and  Benaki.  Dr.  Vrah- 
nos,  a  Boston  physician,  is  the  vice-president. 

On  January  1,  1912,  a  new  and  important  ad 
vance  in  the  administration  of  the  Union  was 
made,  the  election,  as  a  general  manager  who 
should  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  work,  of  a 


66  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

famous  Greek  statesman,  who,  relinquishing  well 
earned  honors  in  Greece,  came  here  for  this  very 
purpose — the  uplift  of  his  compatriots  in  America. 
This  is  the  Hon.  Constantine  Papamichalopoulos, 
member  of  the  Greek  Parliament  for  twenty  years, 
Minister  of  Education  and  Religion  for  twelve, 
and  also  an  ex-Governor  of  Attica  and  Bceotia, 
well  known  as  an  author  and  traveler.  He  is  the 
administrative  head  of  the  Union,  and  his  task  is  a 
tremendous  and  difficult  one.  The  headquarters  of 
the  Union  are  at  53  State  Street,  Boston,  where 
is  the  office  of  the  general  manager  and  his  corps 
of  secretaries.  There  are  several  traveling  inspec 
tors,  and  recently  several  of  the  leading  Greek 
priests  in  America  were  appointed  lecturers  to 
spread  the  work  of  the  Union  and  try  to  minister 
to  the  unshepherded  colonies. 

In  August,  191&,  at  the  annual  meeting,  there 
sat  for  a  whole  week  in  Boston  a  notable  gathering, 
the  officers  and  127  delegates,  one  from  each  branch 
— physicians,  lawyers,  newspaper  men,  etc.,  from 
all  over  the  United  States.  And  the  very  first  mo 
tion  passed  was  to  vote  a  goodly  sum  from  the  all 
too  inadequate  funds  of  the  Union  for  the  relief  of 
the  earthquake  sufferers  in  the  ^Egean!  Among 
other  donations  the  Union  issued  a  request  last 
summer  for  subscriptions  to  the  Washington  Me 
morial  Building.  In  the  call  to  arms  and  the 
provisions  for  the  passage  money  and  the  care  of 
the  families  of  the  Greeks  who  went  home  to  fight 
the  Turks  last  autumn,  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      67 

took  the  leading  part,  and  also  in  the  raising  of 
funds  for  the  Greek  Red  Cross  Society,  etc. 

It  was  recently  enacted  that  no  member  of 
the  Union  may  become  a  community  officer. 
You  may  recognize  a  member  by  his  button, 
white,  with  the  imperial  double-headed  eagle  and 
the  lettering  in  blue  and  gold. 

NEWSPAPERS 

In  the  year  1894  a  Greek  named  Solon  J. 
Vlastos  had  the  enterprise  to  start  a  Greek  news 
paper  in  New  York.  It  was  called  Atlantis, 
and  has  continued  to  the  present  under  the  same 
publisher.  At  first  it  was  a  four-page  weekly. 
There  were  then,  it  is  true,  not  many  subscribers 
to  support  such  a  paper;  but  so  enthusiastic  did 
these  few  wax  at  the  actuality  of  a  paper  of 
their  own,  and  such  hearty  encouragement  did 
they  give  its  editor,  that  the  publication  lived. 
After  a  time  it  appeared  twice  a  week,  and  finally 
in  1903  it  became  a  daily,  and  soon  the  office, 
occupying  a  whole  building,  was  fitted  out  with 
the  up-to-date  machinery  of  an  up-to-date  news 
paper,  with  a  large  office  force  and  daily  special 
cable  service  from  Athens,  Constantinople,  Lon 
don,  etc.  Now  the  issue  of  Atlantis  numbers 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  thousand,  and  is  read 
in  every  part  of  the  country.  It  also  has  a  cir 
culation  in  Europe.  Also  all  over  the  country 
goes  the  other  Greek  daily  of  smaller  issue,  Pan- 
Hellenic.  This  was  started  in  1904  in  New 
York  by  Socrates  Xanthaky.  Oh!  how  won- 


68  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

drously  doth  history  repeat  herself!  Here, 
after  the  lapse  of  nearly  2500  years,  again  we 
see  Solon  and  Socrates,  in  very  flesh  and  blood, 
striving  as  of  old  to  mold  the  lives  of  the  Greeks. 
Their  headquarters,  however,  are  no  longer  the 
Areopagos  or  the  Agora,  but  31st  and  Vesey 
Streets,  New  York.  Then,  alas !  they  have  de 
teriorated  in  the  process  of  reincarnation,  for  we 
find  not  Socratic  highmindedness  nor  yet  So- 
Ionic  disinterestedness.  These  two  are  the  only 
daily  Greek  newspapers  in  America,  and  they  are 
bitter  rivals.  There  was  another  which  had  a 
brief  existence  called  Thermopylae.  The  Greek 
newspapers  in  America  now  number  sixteen  and 
are  located  as  follows : — New  York,  2  daily  and 
%  semi-weekly;  Boston,  Lowell,  Lynn,  Manches 
ter,  Pittsburg,  1  weekly  each;  Chicago,  1  semi- 
weekly  and  2  weekly;  Salt  Lake  City,  £  weekly; 
San  Francisco,  2  weekly. 

The  Greek  above  all  men  loves  to  devour  his 
newspaper.  If  you  enter  his  place  of  business 
for  a  friendly  chat  and  he  is  reading  his  paper, 
you  must  wait.  This  is  not  discourtesy,  for  the 
Greek  is  the  most  courteous  of  men;  it  is  habit. 
Indeed  the  newspaper,  above  all  else,  keeps  him 
in  touch  with  the  fatherland  and  with  his  fellow- 
countrymen  here,  and  it  also  tells  him  of  Ameri 
can  life.  The  Greek  newspapers  contain  the 
happenings  in  Hellas,  especially  the  politics, — 
every  Greek  is  a  well-versed  and  fluent  politician. 
A  list  of  the  religious  and  other  holidays  is  given 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      69 

in  them.  Then  the  reader  finds  the  social  and 
commercial  events  and  progress  of  his  compatri 
ots  all  over  America:  the  weddings  (now  almost 
every  day  and  mostly  of  Greek  with  Greek),  the 
funerals,  baptisms,  new  business  openings,  new 
churches,  new  societies.  Then  there  is  the  gen 
eral  news  of  the  country,  and  also  the  world 
news  under  the  foreign  associated  press.  These 
papers  are  written  in  good  Greek — and  remem 
ber  that,  contrary  to  the  notion  of  many  Ameri 
cans,  practically  all  the  Greeks  in  America  can 
read  good  Greek  just  as  practically  all  Americans 
can  read  good  English.  Much  have  these  news 
papers  done  toward  the  enlightenment  and  gen 
eral  development  of  the  Greeks  in  this  country; 
but  also  they  have  done  much  to  animate  the 
factional  feeling  which  is  so  common  and  deplora 
ble. 

The  Patris,  published  in  Lowell  weekly,  by  a 
Greek  gentleman  of  education,  the  k.  Michel 
latros,  has  as  its  object  to  satirize  the  foibles  of 
the  Greeks  in  America. 

The  Atlantis  Company  publishes  an  excellent 
magazine  (issue  about  12,000),  The  Atlantis  Il 
lustrated  Monthly.  It  is  much  like  our  American 
magazines,  perhaps  most  resembling  Collier's  in 
appearance,  containing  the  usual  magazine  arti 
cles  and  the  news  of  the  month  in  the  United 
States,  Greece,  and  the  world.  It  is  finely  illus 
trated.  It  has  thirty  or  forty  pages  and  costs 
$2.00  a  year. 


70  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

There  are  also  several  other  Greek  magazines 
of  very  recent  beginning. 

Also  there  is  a  monthly  magazine  in  English, 
edited  by  a  Greek,  the  k.  T.  T.  Timayenis  of 
Boston,  The  Eastern  and  Western  Review.  Be 
sides  general  matter  it  usually  contains  interest 
ing  articles  about  Greeks  and  Greece. 

BOOKS 

Then  the  books  which  the  Greeks  here  read — • 
it  is  interesting  to  note  their  character.  They 
may  be  found  at  the  Greek  book  stores,  as  also 
the  interesting  crude  lithographs,  and  Eikons,  and 
music.  First  in  order  of  demand  come  the  Eng 
lish  method  books  and  lexicons;  then  patriotic 
books,  stories  of  the  ancient  heroes  and  those  of 
the  War  of  Independence;  and  the  many  reli 
gious  books  of  the  Orthodox  Church,  prayer 
books,  lives  of  our  Lord  and  of  the  Saints,  and 
Church  histories.  Then  beside  the  above  good 
books,  there  is  all  too  great  a  demand  for  a 
trashy  class  of  light  fiction.4 

The   Atlantis   Company,   which   in   addition   to 

*  In  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  and 
elsewhere,  an  excellent  scheme  has  been  instituted  which 
should  be  adopted  throughout  the  country.  The  Public  Li 
brary  has  a  foreign  department,  with  books  in  foreign  lan 
guages  and  special  facilities  to  attract  the  immigrant  to 
use  them.  They  have  a  shelf  full  of  modern  Greek  books 
and  Greeks  use  them.  This  is  a  very  practical  way  of  help 
ing  the  Greek  immigrant.  In  the  selection  of  such  books 
one  of  the  two  leading  book  stores  should  be  consulted,  and 
also  the  leading  men  of  the  Greek  community  where  the 
library  is  situated. 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      71 

its   newspaper  and  magazine   does   a  large  book 
business,   writes   me   as   follows: 

"The  importation  of  Greek  books  has  grown  con 
siderably  in  the  last  few  years.  Considering  the  fact 
that  the  majority  of  the  Greek  immigrants  are  labor 
ers  of  meager  education,  the  call  for  books  is  aston 
ishing.  With  all  our  long  experience  in  the  publishing 
field,  we  were  surprised  to  find  what  a  great  demand 
exists  for  modern  Greek  translations  of  Greek  classics 
(pages  45-51,  our  catalog).  These  translations  have 
been  produced  by  a  publisher  in  Athens  at  great  cost, 
but  notwithstanding  their  high  prices,  they  sell  so 
fast  that  we  cannot  keep  our  stock  complete.  Also 
Greek  translations  of  works  of  Tolstoi,  Debay,  Nor- 
dau,  Dastre,  Taine,  Haeckel,  Lubbock,  Buckner,  etc., 
are  favorable  books  with  our  readers.  Of  course  the 
bulk  of  our  trade  is  in  Greek-English  educational 
books.  A  few  of  these  books  are  sold  to  American 
students." 

"Atlas,"  the  other  leading  Greek  book  store 
(25  Madison  Street,  New  York)  writes  me  on  the 
book-selling  business: 

"  'Atlas/  owned  by  John  Rompapas,  established 
1910,  has  a  money  order  business  mostly.  In  the 
first  year,  July,  1910,  to  July,  1911,  we  had  about 
an  $8000  business;  but  this  year  (1911)  the  business 
increased  to  a  surprising  amount.  We  imported  from 
Greece  from  July,  1911,  to  Dec.  5,  1911,  seventy- 
four  cases  of  books,  worth  $10,000,  and  on  every 
steamer  we  keep  on  bringing  books.  We  send  price 
lists  all  over  the  United  States,  and  the  Greeks  order 


72  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

books  (prepaid).  I  believe  of  all  the  foreigners, 
Greeks  are  reading  the  most.  'Platon,'  48  James 
Street,  New  York,  established  a  book  store  in  October, 
1911.  They  are  going  to  import  books  as  'Atlas'  and 
'Atlantis.'  All  over  the  United  States  there  are  a 
few  book  stores,  but  their  business  is  in  combination 
with  other  business.  They  buy  their  books  from  New 
York — and  sometimes  they  import  a  case  direct. 
Also  there  are  about  five  or  six  booksellers  going  from 
town  to  town  as  peddlers  with  books." 

A  number  of  books  have  been  published  by 
Greeks  in  America  to  help  the  Greek  immigrant 
understand  his  adopted  country  and  its  language. 
In  1903  Atlantis  put  out  the  "Greeks'  Compan 
ion  in  America,"  giving  information  concerning 
the  passage  to  America,  the  geography  of  the 
United  States,  immigration  laws,  etc.  The  next 
year  appeared  the  "Thermopylae  Almanac"  by 
the  k.  Booras,  giving  in  addition  to  such  facts 
some  account  of  the  Greek  colonies  in  the  United 
States.  Then  Atlantis  published  some  Greek- 
English  lexicons ;  English  lesson  books  based  on 
the  Holendorf  method;  a  "History  of  the  United 
States"  which  has  run  through  two  editions ;  a 
"History  of  Greece" ;  pocket  dictionaries ;  and 
several  other  books.  Until  lately  most  of  their 
publications  were  given  as  premiums  to  subscrib 
ers.  There  are  also  several  other  pocket  dic 
tionaries  and  lesson  books  compiled  by  other 
Greeks  in  America. 

The  most  complete  and  valuable  book  for  the 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      73 

Greeks  in  America  is  the  "Greek  American  Guide 
and  Directory,"  published  annually  since  1908 
by  the  k.  Seraphim  G.  Canoutas,  graduate  in 
law  of  the  University  of  Athens,  and  in  1912  of 
an  American  law  school,  who  came  to  this  country 
in  1905.  This  book  is  widely  used,  and  is  com 
mended  by  the  Greek  officials  in  America  and 
Greece.  It  contains  all  sorts  of  useful  informa 
tion  for  the  immigrant:  American  laws,  history, 
geography,  statistics,  customs  and  life ;  the  story 
of  Greek  immigration;  and  a  complete  account 
of  all  the  colonies  and  communities  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  with  many  pictures ;  and  also 
a  full  list  in  English  of  the  Greek  churches  and 
clergy,  merchants,  shopkeepers,  physicians,  news 
papers,  etc.,  etc.,  with  addresses,  listed  by  states 
and  cities.  The  k.  Canoutas  obtained  much  of 
his  information  by  a  tour  of  every  state  in  the 
Union  (except  Arizona  and  New  Mexico).  He 
also  gives  much  salutary  advice  to  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  He  writes  in  a  disinterested  and 
sympathetic  spirit,  striving  to  avoid  flattery  and 
faction,  and  scrupulously  adhering  to  facts.  The 
k.  Canoutas  is  now  practicing  law  in  Boston. 

FAMILIES 

We  come  now  to  a  factor  in  the  evolution  of 
Greek  immigration  that  is  of  the  utmost  impor 
tance  to  the  moral  welfare  and  settled  establish 
ment  of  the  Greeks.  Practically  no  Greek 
immigrant  on  his  first  arrival  brings  his  wife. 


74  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

For  financial  reasons  he  obviously  cannot.  She 
and  the  little  children  are  left  in  Greece  and  the 
father  slaves  here  to  support  them.  Thus  we 
find,  as  with  most  recent  immigrants,  crowds  of 
men  herded  together  without  the  mellowing  influ 
ence  of  family  life,  and  subject  to  terrible  temp 
tations.  Moreover,  to  the  Greek,  coming  from 
a  country  where  the  bringing  up  of  girls  is  strict 
and  the  sexual  morality  is  splendid,  the  freedom 
of  American  girls  and  women,  good  as  well  as 
bad,  both  shocks  and  allures  him.  In  Greece  no 
decent  girl  would  ever  be  out  after  dark  without 
an  escort.  And  the  shameless  immorality  of  our 
factory  towns  and  of  many  other  kinds  of  towns 
all  over  the  country  cannot  but  corrupt  the  lonely 
newcomer.  But  how  is  it  when  he  has  learned 
English  and  come  to  understand  American  life 
and  ideals?  Does  American  law  and  public  sen 
timent  teach  him  to  hate  the  immorality  that  he 
sees?  Quite  the  contrary.  He  never  heard  of 
in  Greece  that  terrible  laxness  in  divorce  laws, 
that  rank  looseness  among  the  "leaders  of  soci 
ety,"  that  daily  scandal-mongering  of  news 
papers,  which  things  are  the  crying  shame  of  this 
free  land  of  ours.  The  Greeks  are  not  corrupt 
ing  us ;  we  are  corrupting  them.  Nay,  rather  in 
Greece  the  relation  of  the  sexes  is  almost  puritan 
ical.  Holy  matrimony  is  a  sacrament  and  a  re 
sponsibility  the  most  sacred  and  binding,  children 
the  best  of  blessings, — the  family  there  is  still 
treated  as  the  foundation  of  society.  Therefore 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      75 

it  is  that  -the  great  salvation  of  the  Greek  men  is 
the  coming  of  the  women. 

In  1891  there  were  scarcely  any  Greek  families 
in  America.  Little  by  little  those  who  were 
married  began  to  send  back  or  go  back  for  their 
wives.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1905  that  any 
appreciable  number  of  women  begani  to  immi 
grate.  Numbered  by  hundreds  before  in  the 
United  States,  they  can  now  be  counted  by  thou 
sands.  This  is  encouraging,  but  the  proportion 
is  still  infinitesimal.5 

Sometimes  they  live  in  poor  tenements, 
sometimes  in  their  own  house, — for  in  nearly  ev 
ery  city  or  town  where  the  Greeks  are  counted 
by  scores,  some  few  have  bought  and  own  their 
homes;  this  as  especially  true  in  some  of  the 
southern  cities.  As  we  mentioned  above,  Greek 
weddings  occur  almost  every  day,  and  but  few 
are  mixed  marriages.  Of  late  unmarried  girls 
have  been  coming  more  and  more  with  their 
brothers  or  parents,  and  many  come  already  affi 
anced.  God  grant  that  the  family  life  may  fast 
increase  among  the  Greeks  in  America. 

GREEK  SCHOOLS 

And  now  the  latest  factor.  As  the  Greek 
families  are  becoming  established,  there  are  the 
Greek  children  to  be  educated.  To  the  Ameri 
can  public  schools  they  can  and  do  go,  and  prove 

s  In  one  Greek  colony,  but  its  case  is  unique,  the  number 
of  Greek  women  exceeds  that  of  the  men.  This  is  in  Ipswich, 
Massachusetts. 


76  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

bright  scholars ;  but  this  means  a  severance  from 
the  language  of  the  fatherland,  ancient  as  well 
as  modern,  and  from  the  religion  not  only  of 
Greece,  but  from  all  religion.  Thus  after  the 
development  of  the  Greek  churches,  naturally  fol 
lows  the  development  of  Greek  schools.  This, 
however,  is  only  just  beginning.  No  Sunday- 
schools  exist  in  Greece;  for  there  the  Catechism, 
the  Bible,  and  the  Prayers  are  taught  as  a  funda 
mental  part  of  the  curriculum  from  the  begin 
ning  to  the  end  of  school  days  in  every  school  in 
the  Kingdom  and  enslaved  Greece.  Naturally 
the  Greek  father  feels  that  our  American  schools 
are  fundamentally  lacking  for  the  child  of  the 
Church  and  Hellas.  This  need  first  began  to 
be  felt  only  about  four  or  five  years  ago.  There 
are  thus  far  schools  in  Boston,  Lowell,  Lynn 
and  Chicago  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  pupils, 
and  smaller  schools  in  a  number  of  other  places. 
A  large  and  suitable  building  was  purchased  in 
the  autumn  of  1911  in  the  Bronx,  New  York, 
costing  $35,000,  to  be  used  as  a  school  and 
as  a  dormitory  for  the  care  of  poor  and  destitute 
Greek  children.  As  time  goes  on  the  number 
of  Greek  schools  will  increase,  and  their  organi 
zation  become  more  perfected.  The  Pan-Hellenic 
Union  plans  to  establish  schools  of  all  grades 
when  sufficient  funds,  are  forthcoming.  Re 
member,  these  schools  afe  not  for  the  men — they 
attend  the  American  night  schools  and  the  like 
to  learn  English, — the  schools  we  are  discussing 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      77 

in  this  section  are  for  the  boys  and  girls  of  the 
Greek   families. 

In  these  schools  the  Greek  curriculum  is  fol 
lowed,  combined  with  the  American.  There  is 
always  an  American  teacher  or  two  as  well  as 
Greek.  They  are  not  parochial  schools  in  the 
usual  acceptation  of  the  term  as  applied  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  schools,  for  the  priest  of  the 
community  has  no  direct  relation  to  the  school; 
but  just  as  in  Greece  it  goes  without  saying  that 
religion  is  taught  by  the  regular  teachers,  so  it 
is  here.  In  Greece  it  is  not  left  to  the  Greek 
mother  nor  to  the  parish  priest  to  make  sure  that 
the  child  says  his  prayers,  and  his  grace  before 
and  after  meals,  and  knows  how  to  take  part  in 
the  worship  of  the  church  and  learns  the  life  of 
our  Lord  and  other  Bible  stories  and  his  cate 
chism.  All  these,  in  Greece,  are  insisted  on  in 
school  by  law. 

Much  has  been  thoughtlessly  said  and  written 
against  the  Greek  keeping  up  his  language  and 
his  interest  in  his  native  country  and  his  "merely 
formal"  religion.  "Such  things  prevent  his  be 
coming  a  good  American!"  Yet  Greek,  Greece, 
and  the  Orthodox  Church  are  and  have 
been  down  the  centuries  ever  since  St.  Paul's 
time,  the  three  sources  of  all  that  is  lofty 
in  Greek  character.  If  we  try  to  cut  off  the 
Greek  child  from  these,  what  have  our  schools 
to  offer  in  return?  Nay  rather,  if  you  wish] 
him  to  become  a  good  and  useful  American  citiHr 


78  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

I  zen,  allow  him  every  incentive  to  that  refining 
culture  in  the  sublimest  of  languages  and  litera 
tures,  which  our  people  sadly  need ;  that  unswerv 
ing  patriotism  which  so  many  of  our  boys  have 
ceased  to  feel;  that  holy  religion  which,  whatever 
its  seeming  formalism,  is  at  least  a  reminder  of 
the  presence  of  the  Christ  whom  the  majority  of 
Americans  have  forgotten. 

/  In  the  few  Greek  schools  that  have  been  es 
tablished,  though  far  from  perfected  as  yet,  the 

/  pupils  get  a  training  for  the  American  high 
school  as  good  as,  I  doubt  not  often  better  than, 
in  the  American  grammar  schools.  In  the  Bos 
ton  school,  for  example,  you  may  hear  the  bright- 
eyed  Greek  lad  of  thirteen  translate  Xenophon 
to  perfection,  or  English  into  good  classic  Greek. 

THE  PROFESSIONAL  CLASS 

One  more  phase  should  be  treated — the  coming 
of  the  professional  class,  in  distinction  from  the 
peasant.  About  five  years  ago  some  of  the  well- 
educated  men  in  Greece,  lured  by  the  oft-reported 
successes  in  America  of  the  immigrant  peasants, 
took  it  into  their  heads  that  if  the  peasant  could 
so  succeed,  how  much  better  the  man  of  culture. 
So  they  came — medical,  law,  philological,  and 
even  theological  students  who  had  not  yet  be 
gun  their  career  at  home,  practicing  lawyers, 
teachers,  government  clerks  and  the  like.  Alas! 
bitter  has  been  the  disillusionment  of  these  men 
of  education.  The  stronger  and  more  coura- 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      79 

geous  have  taken  employment  in  hotels  and  fac 
tories  far  below  their  due  station  in  life;  the 
others,  who  could  not  stoop  to  menial  work,  have 
done  the  best  they  could  at  miserable  pay  in 
newspaper  offices,  clerkships,  etc.  This  class, 
contrary  to  the  prevalent  opinion,  are  far  more 
undesirable  immigrants  than  the  peasant  class. 
They,  whose  ambitions  as  cultured  men  were  high, 
never  expected  such  a  life,  and  all  too  often  they 
become  embittered,  and,  yielding  to  the  ready 
temptations,  spoiled.  The  more  poorly  educated 
peasant,  hard  and  disappointing  as  he  generally 
finds  conditions  here,  never  aimed  so  high,  and 
he  has  the  chance  and  the  will  to  develop  upward 
instead  of  downward. 

There  are  a  number  of  Greek  lawyers  in  the 
United  States,  but  few  as  yet  have  been  admitted 
to  the  bar  because  of  the  extreme  difficulties  of 
learning  the  language  of  legal  English  and  the 
endless  variety  of  laws  peculiar  to  the  country 
and  the  different  states. 

With  physicians  it  is  not  so  hard,  as  medical 
terms  and  practice  are  more  or  less  alike  the 
world  over.  There  are  some  forty  or  fifty  Greek 
physicians  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States, 
half  of  whom  are  duly  licensed,  and  most  of  the 
rest  will  be  shortly.  These  practice  for  the 
most  part  among  their  own  countrymen.  These 
physicians  and  the  lawyers  too,  got  their  degrees 
from  the  University  of  Athens,  and  a  few  studied 
in  France  or  Germany. 


80  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

There  are  also  two  Greek  dentists  in  Chicago 
and  one  in  New  York,  one  of  whom  was  originally 
an  Orthodox  deacon,  and  several  are  studying 
in  American  dental  schools. 

Here  is  the  story  of  one  Greek  M.  D., — I 
think  he  is  the  only  one  who  began  his  training 
here.  He  had  immigrated  to  America,  and 
started  a  barber  shop  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  but 
being  ambitious,  he  took  up  the  study  of  medi 
cine  in  the  Georgetown  University  evening  school. 
He  was  equipped  with  only  a  partial  gymnasium 
education  in  Greece.  He  still  kept  his  tonsorial 
establishment  open,  but  did  not  cut  hair  any 
longer ;  and  his  patrons  used  to  see  him  sitting 
in  the  back  of  the  shop  poring  over  his  medical 
books.  Now  Dr.  Constans  is  a  successful  prac 
titioner  at  the  capital,  and  has  become  a  demon 
strator  on  the  faculty  of  the  medical  department 
of  Georgetown. 

For  years  there  have  occasionally  been  Greeks 
studying  in  our  American  colleges.  At  the  pres 
ent  time  there  are  somewhere  between  30  and 
60,  and  each  year  the  number  increases.  True 
to  the  characteristic  Greek  ambition  for  educa 
tion,  nearly  all  attain  high  rank,  and  also 
nearly  all  are  poor  boys,  working  their  way 
through.  A  few  years  ago  a  Greek  chemist, 
graduate  of  Columbia  (Dr.  Stateropoulos,  aft 
erwards  called  to  a  Professorship  in  his  Alma 
Mater)  conceived  the  idea  of  an  association  for 
all  Greek  students  in  America.  The  plan  fell 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      81 

through,  but  later  the  scheme  was  taken  up  and 
worked  out  by  a  brilliant  student  at  Harvard, 
the  k.  Phoutrides.  Thus  in  November,  1911,  was 
formed  the  present  association,  whose  letter  head 
is 

"G^rotj  aptfywv  avrds  Tf}vp6fjir]v  irbvovs" 

AESCHYLUS.6 

GREEK  STUDENTS'  ASSOCIATION  "HELICON" 
21  ELLERY  STREET,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

The  charter  members  were  thirteen  Greek  stu 
dents  from  Harvard,  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  and  Tufts;  and  these  proceeded  to 
try  to  get  into  communication  with  Greek  stu 
dents  in  American  colleges  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  By  August,  1912,  the  Association 
numbered  40,  including  graduates  of  colleges, 
some  high  school  students,  and  several  honorary 
members.  At  that  date  the  secretary,  the  k. 
B.  Despotes  wrote  me: 

"Our  Association  numbers  only  a  few  months*  life 
as  yet,  but  its  activity  has  proved  it  to  be  a  lusty  baby 
with  great  promises.  I  have  no  doubt  you  realize 
how  hard  it  is  to  find  the  Greek  students  all  over  the 
wide,  wide  U.  S. ;  communicate  not  only  with  them, 
but  find  also  their  moral  and  intellectual  standard  by 
applying  to  the  authorities  of  different  schools.  Sum 
mer  vacation  has  interrupted  the  work  of  the  Associa 
tion  and  several  applications  for  membership  are 
awaiting  the  approval  of  the  general  conference  of  the 
members.  I  am  very  much  pleased  to  say  that  only 

•  Prometheus  267. 


82  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

high   grade  students  are  admitted  to  our  association, 
both  morally  and  intellectually. 
Objects  of  the  Association: — 

1.  To  promote  the  learning  among  the  Greeks,  giv 
ing   every  information  and   aid  in  its  power  to  any 
Greek  applicant. 

2.  To  promote   intellectual  development  and   culti 
vate   literary   taste    and   reasoning   ability   among   its 
own  members. 

3.  To    acquaint    the    American    nation    with    what 
seems   to  us  to  be  worthy  and  beautiful  in  our  own 
nation  and  its  literature  and  life." 

The  following1  examples  of  the  brilliant  work 
of  Greek  students  in  America  may  be  cited:  A. 
Phoutrides  (president  of  the  Association),  who 
graduated  from  Harvard  in  1911  with  swmma 
cum  laude  after  taking  several  of  the  highest 
prizes  in  the  gift  of  the  university;  Dr.  Kyria- 
kides,  D.  Sc.  (the  Association's  treasurer),  grad 
uate  of  Michigan,  inventor  of  a  new  chemical 
compound  in  organic  chemistry ;  N.  Catsainos, 
recipient  of  one  of  the  highest  prizes  at  M.  I. 
T. ;  and  N.  Cassavetes,  who  was  valedictorian  at 
Mt.  Hermon  Academy  and  is  now  doing  fine  work 
at  Harvard.  Also,  a  young  Greek  named  Kav- 
akos,  a  few  years  ago  took  the  first  prize  in  sculp 
ture  at  the  Institute  of  Maryland  and  was  sent 
abroad  on  a  $4000  fellowship  to  complete  his 
studies  in  Germany. 

Alas !  as  far  as  I  know  there  are  now  no  native 
Greeks  holding  the  professorships  of  Greek  in 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      83 

our  American   colleges.     We   greatly  need  them. 
Greeks  are  the  best  fitted  to  teach  us  Greek.7 

There  is  also  that  other  distinct  professional 
caste,  the  Greek  Orthodox  clergy.  Part  are 
married  and  part  are  the  unmarried  from  the 
monasteries.8  Of  these  there  are  about  fifty 
sent  by  the  Holy  Synod  of  Athens  or  His  Beati 
tude  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  now  all 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Metropolitan  of 
Athens.  There  are  also,  as  we  mentioned  above, 
a  number  of  unsent  priests,  who,  though  in  Holy 
Orders,  are  ministering  without  authority.  Of 
the  sent  priests  some  are  of  good  education, 
some  are  not.  They  are  sometimes  accused  of 
being  "lovers  of  filthy  lucre."  Without  doubt 
many  are — though  they  acquired  the  habit  only 
after  they  reached  America — but  certainly  some 
are  faithful,  saintly  shepherds,  respected  and  be 
loved  by  their  flocks.  As  mentioned  above,  their 

7  There  is  a  Greek   Professor  of  Music  at  New  Mexico 
State  College! 

8  The  title  Archimandrite — there  are  a  number  in  America 
(6    'Apx-    as    distinguished    from    plain   6    'Aid.   The   Rev.) 
— is    not   that  of   an   abbot,   but   simply  an   honorary   title 
given  to  priest-monks  only.     In  their  ecclesiastical  attire  an 
Archimandrite  is  distinguished  by  his  headgear,  a  veil-like 
cloth  or  hood  down  over  the  brimless  hat  and  falling  to  the 
back  and  shoulders.     The  Greek  term  for  the  secular  mar 
ried     priest     is     fepeus;     for     the     unmarried     monk-priest 
lepofjiovaxos.     There    are    a    few    honorary    titles    of    little 
significance    given    to    married    priests,    as    olKot>6/j.os    and 
7i7>a>T07rpe<7/3urtpos.     The   usual   word    for  a  priest   in   charge 
of  a  parish  or  community — which   I  have  translated  "pas 
tor" — is  'E0Tj/uepios. 


84  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

bishopless  position  in  the  Greek  Orthodox  com 
munities  of  the  United  States  is  at  present  an 
extremely  difficult  one.  There  are  five  or  six  so- 
called  Greek  Protestant  missionaries  in  America. 
Of  the  only  two  such  Greeks  I  have  happened  to 
hear  of,  one  is  a  rascal  and  the  other  isn't.  But 
they  can  make  no  more  impression  on  the  Ortho 
dox  Greek  in  America,  than  do  the  American  and 
English  Protestant  "missionary"  proselytizers 
in  Greece. 

THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE 

Let  us  mention  here  the  diplomatic  service  of 
Greece  in  the  United  States.  The  Royal  Lega 
tion  of  Greece  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  was  estab 
lished  in  1908  with  His  Excellency  the  k.  Koro- 
milas  as  Minister.  Last  year  he  was  recalled 
and  is  now  in  the  Cabinet  of  Venezelos.  The  Le 
gation  has  since  been  under  the  Honorable  k.  Kaf- 
tantzoglu,  Charge  d'Affaires.  In  New  York 
the  Honorable  k.  Botassis,  the  dean  of  the 
Greek  service  in  America,  is  consul  general.  The 
other  diplomatic  posts,  consulates  and  vice-con 
sulates  (all  unsalaried  positions)  are  in  the  fol 
lowing  cities :  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Wilming 
ton,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Nashville,  Mobile, 
Omaha,  Tacoma,  and  San  Francisco. 

THE    CALL   TO   ARMS 

We  have  seen  how  the  Greeks  in  America  have 
become  banded  together  in  various  ways  for 


INSTITUTIONAL  DEVELOPMENT      85 

united  activities  and  benefits,  and  how  through 
it  all  one  of  their  chief  objects  has  been  to  keep 
alive  the  fire  of  patriotism,  the  love  for  the  father 
land.  Thus  we  cannot  close  this  chapter  in  a 
more  fitting  manner  than  by  briefly  telling  their 
latest  and  greatest  united  effort  which  all  Amer 
ica,  yes,  the  whole  Christian  world,  has  seen  and  ap 
plauded.  When  the  glorious  Balkan  War  which 
has  swept  the  Turk  from  Europe  broke  out  in  the 
autumn  of  1912,  the  call  to  arms  sounded  through 
out  America.  And  the  vaunted  patriotism  of  the 
Greeks  everywhere  proved  itself  no  idle  boast. 
Never  before  in  history  has  just  such  a  spectacle 
been  seen:  hosts  of  immigrants  sacrificing  their 
all  and  hastening  home  from  all  over  the  world 
to  fight  for  their  oppressed  brethren  and  to  gain 
back  the  century-enslaved  lands  which  are  Greek 
by  right.  Thus  was  Greece  furnished  with  a  suf 
ficient  supply  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  Splendid 
enthusiasm  was  displayed  in  every  colony  of 
Greeks  in  the  United  States,  and  those  who  did 
not  go,  contributed  generously.  That  autumn 
and  winter  at  our  Atlantic  seaports  the  crowds 
of  embarking  patriots  were  familiar  and  inspiring 
sights,  as  they  marched  to  the  ships,  singing  their 
national  anthem  and  receiving  the  final  blessing 
from  their  priests.  Between  40000  and  50000 
rteservists  and  volunteers  went  to  Greece  from 
America.  Most  of  these  saw  active  service  and 
acquitted  themselves  nobly  in  the  victorious  war. 
It  is  an  almost  certain  prediction  to  make  that 


86  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

nearly  all  of  them  will  return  to  America— ex 
cept  those  who  have  given  their  lives  for  the  holy 
cause  on  the  field  of  battle. 


VI 

CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES 

As  in  the  fatherland  the  Greek  ever  loved  to 
celebrate  the  holidays  of  his  church  or  nation, 
and  as  the  rites  and  ministrations  of  his  church 
played  a  very  intimate  part  in  his  yearly  round, 
so  it  is  still  with  him  after  he  has  taken  up  his 
abode  in  America. 

INDEPENDENCE  DAY 

The  greatest  day  of  all  the  year  is  the  Greek 
Independence  Day,  March  25th  (Eastern  calen 
dar) — April  7th  (Western  calendar),1  commem 
orating  that  great  day  in  1821  when  Archbishop 
Germanus  raised  first  the  standard  of  the  Cross 
for  freedom.  Because  ,this  is  generally  not  a 
holiday  in  America,  they  are  usually  forced  to 
celebrate  it  on  the  following  Sunday.  Two 
springs  ago  (1912),  because  the  day  happened 
to  coincide  with  Easter,  it  was  moved  one  week 

i  The  Greek  calendar  is  13  days  behind  ours — a  somewhat 
confusing  fact.  This  is  because  the  Eastern  Orthodox  coun 
tries  have  always  adhered  to  the  old  Julian  or  Dionysian 
calendar,  while  the  Western  nations  have  adopted  since  1583 
the  "New  Style"  Gregorian  calendar,  as  reformed  by  order 
of  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  Russia  adopted  the  Gregorian  cal 
endar  in  1902. 

87 


88  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

later  by  order  of  the  Eminent  Commander  of  the 
Pan-Hellenic  Union.  For  this  each  community 
makes  elaborate  preparations,  and  the  Greek  news 
papers  give  the  pictures  and  re-tell  the  stories  of 
the  heroes  of  the  war.  The  day  begins,  of  course, 
with  the  Divine  Liturgy  (Holy  Eucharist),  and 
then  come  great  mass  meetings  with  patriotic 
speeches,  and  parades,  etc. 

Let  me  quote  a  typical  account  from  the  Bid- 
deford  Journal,  April  15th,  1912,  of  Biddeford 
and  Saco,  Maine,  where  there  is  a  community  of 
500  Greeks. 

"The  91st  anniversary  of  the  Independence  of 
Greece  was  celebrated  by  the  American-Greek  resi 
dents  of  Biddeford  and  Saco,  Sunday,  with  special 
services  in  National  Hall,  a  street  parade  led  by  Pan- 
chaud's  band  and  patriotic  features  that  were  sym 
bolic  of  the  liberty  gained  through  centuries  of 
struggle  in  the  mother  country. 

"The  committee  in  charge  of  the  programme  for  the 
day  were  Nicholas  Collins,  E.  Boucouvalas,  George 
Vassals  and  Peter  Victor,  and  under  their  direction 
the  patriotic  services  were  carried  out  with  great 
credit  to  this  newer  element  to  our  citizenship,  and 
the  pride  of  older  residents  who  viewed  the  parade. 

"The  religious  service  that  was  after  the  Greek 
Orthodox  form  was  held  in  National  Hall,  and  was 
impressive,  though  not  long.  Following  this  came  an 
address  to  the  Greek  people  by  Michel  latros  of  Bos 
ton,  who  is  the  editor  of  the  weekly  publication,  The 
Patris.  It  was  a  heart  to  heart  talk  that  this  edu 
cated  leader  had  with  the  people  of  his  country  and 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES          89 

his  race,  fired  by  patriotism  strong  with  enthusiasm 
for  the  future  of  his  people,  who,  loving  freedom  at 
home,  are  enjoying  this  same  privilege  in  'the  land 
of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave/ 

"Following  the  service  the  company  left  the  hall, 
formed  in  line  and  to  the  music  of  the  band  and  led 
by  George  Vassals  of  the  committee,  marched  down 
Main  street.  It  was  an  imposing  sight.  Directly 
following  the  leader  came  the  Sacred  Battalion,  a 
platoon  of  young  men  bearing  the  American  flag,  the 
blue  and  white  ensign  of  Greece  and  the  banner  of 
the  Pan-Hellenic  union.  Then  marched  the  men  of 
the  race,  in  all,  a  band  of  300  strong.  A  platoon  of 
police  acted  as  an  escort.2 

"Erect  and  with  firm  tread,  in  perfect  step  to  the 
music,  they  moved  along,  not  forgetting  to  recognize 
with  bared  head  the  American  flag,  that  in  anticipa 
tion  of  the  celebration  had  been  displayed  by  citizens 
all  along  the  route;  nor  the  Greek  flag  that  was  dis 
played  wherever  there  were  Greek  homes  or  places 
of  business. 

"The  march  was  to  Saco  and  up  Main  street  as 
far  as  the  soldiers'  monument,  where,  encircling  the 
memorial  to  a  country's  heroes,  the  entire  company 
stood  with  uncovered  heads-  while  the  band  played 
'Star  Spangled  Banner'  and  the  national  air  of  Greece. 
The  line  of  march  was  then  towards  Biddeford. 

"It  was  an  object  lesson  to  older  as  well  as  younger 
Americans  and  by  the  most  dispassionate  should  not 
be  soon  forgotten.  It  was  expressive  of  the  same  love 
for  liberty  that  has  marked  the  Greek  race  since  the 
early  Peloponnesian  struggles.  The  spirit  that  under 
Miltiades  won  great  victory  over  the  Persians  at  Mara- 

2  This  "American"  escort  were  mostly  French  Canadians ! 


90  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

thon;  that  stood  at  the  pass  of  Thermopylae  under  the 
brave  Leonidas. 

"Not  only  the  recognition  of  the  day  but  the  coming 
of  Mr.  latros  to  the  city  will  mean  much  for  the  local 
Greeks.  Their  organizations  will  now  be  fired  by  a 
deeper  spirit  of  the  true  patriotism,  recognizing  the 
truth  of  the  fact  brought  out  by  this  patriot  and  orator, 
that  the  power  to  be  of  the  best  lies  within  themselves." 

I  can  vouch  for  the  excellence  of  this  account, 
for  I  was  given  a  seat  on  the  platform  that  day 
beside  the  dear  old  Greek  priest,  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  entertaining  the  k.  latros  that  even 
ing  at  dinner.  It  was  worth  while  to  look  into 
that  sea  of  intelligent  faces  during  the  oration. 
I  wish  I  could  have  understood  it.  The  k.  latros 
told  me  afterwards  that  they  usually  got  too 
much  patriotism  and  too  little  practical  common- 
sense  advice,  and  that  he  tried  to  give  them  the 
latter. 

Here  is  a  translation  of  the  Greek  National 
Anthem,  which  every  Greek  in  America  and  the 
world  over  knows  and  loves  to  sing.  The  original 
with  its  stirring  music  is  given  on  the  following 
page: 

HYMN  TO  LIBERTY 

"From  thy  fearful  sword  I  know  thee 
With  its  sharpened  edge  and  bright; 
From  the  glance  which  as  the  lightning 
Spans  the  earth  in  length  and  height. 
From  the  sacred  bones  thou  comest 
Of  the  brave  that  are  no  more. 


HYMNE  GREC 

YMNOS  EIS  THN  EAEY0EPIAN. 


A.  SOAOMOY. 

Maestoso. 


N.MANTZAPOY. 


3E£ 


^p^F 


IB 


£e      yvu>  _    pi 


>i 


Yvu,_pi'  _       _    ?-d_lt'o          t^v 


^ 


^J 


The   Greek   National   Anthem. 


*- 

npu>  _  TO      aM_£pa  _  uj  —HE'    _   vi]        XoT  —  ps»ii      yjz~   —   pc         c_Xcu  —  We  —  puz  Kai      tav 

e.g.  c  . 

^  LJ"  LJ"  —  Issr  —  '  L^j  wj"  LT  —  '  i*J"  LJ"  —  Usf  —  '  «  D"  p  —  i  ' 

npu>    _    ta       dvjpti  _  u  _  |u     _     vij        XdT  _  peii    j^oi 


K"tva  atdpa  ixaptcpoikrtf, 

'i  uou  iri) 


Kai  ^tav  Wo  <r>u>ici]Xa, 
Tiafi  io<rxia?e  i, 


, 

Km  Jii)ruvta^  Ta  va  «Xaic 
Kaiaxapr.^..^^^,,,, 
OiXiXtOeipn    XaAlk, 
•"Eva  ixTthcac  taXXo  xrpi 


cXccf  K(Sita1  noit  6Tdvu 
To  xtfdXi  ditb  H-  <p|»v«l<; 
Kat  aitoxivovto  dica  icdvv> 


Toie  E<nixovt;  to 
Me;  ta   xX<tO(iaTa  60X6, 
Kai  tit,   ib  |iouxo  ffov 
nX^«o«  aljia  'EXXijvi 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES          91 

Liberty,  we  hail,  oh,  hail  thee, 
Ever  valiant  as  of  yore! 

"There  in  silent  expectation 
Thou  awaitest,  sad  and  shy, 
Till  a  voice  of  hope  and  valor, 
'Come  again,'  to  thee  should  cry; 
But  that  day  was  far  and  distant; 
All  was  plunged  in  silence  deep, 
Crushed  with  terror,  awed  with  darkness, 
And  benumbed  in  slavery's  sleep. 

"Thou,  alas !  for  only  comfort 
Hadst  the  splendor  of  past  years, 
Calling  back  the  deeds  of  glory 
And  relating  them  with  tears. 
Then  awaiting,  still  awaiting, 
For  a  friendly  freedom's  call, 
In  despair  thy  hands  thou  wringest, 
Weeping  for  thy  bitter  thrall. 

'  'When,  oh,  when,  will  some  one  call  me 
From  the  wilderness  to  rise?' 
Sounds  of  chains  and  groans  and  clamors 
Was  the  answer  to  thy  cries. 
Then  to  Heaven  thou  upraisedst 
A  look  dim  with  tearful  flood — 
And  upon  thy  robe  were  falling 
Drops  of  pure  Hellenic  blood."  3 

3  This  translation,  which  follows  the  original  metre,  was 
made  specially  for  this  book  by  a  Greek  lady,  Mrs.  S.  G. 
Canoutas,  who  had  never  been  in  England  except  for  a  few 
days,  and  had  been  in  the  United  States  (Boston)  only  a 
few  months.  It  is  a  fine  example  of  the  thorough  training 
in  English  taken  by  educated  Greeks. 


92  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

The  translation  and  the  original  given  here  are 
the  first  four  verses  only.  Further  on  the  poem 
tells  of  the  final  answer  to  Liberty's  call,  the  rising 
of  the  Greeks  which  led  to  freedom.  It  was  writ 
ten  at  the  time  of  the  Greek  Revolution.  The 
Greek  of  the  poem  is  not  the  purified  modern  Greek 
of  the  schools  and  newspapers,  but  the  so-called 
"vulgar"  dialect. 

Oh!  what  a  glorious  Independence  Day  was 
that  of  this  very  year,  1913,  and  celebrated  with 
what  fervor  by  the  Greeks  of  America,  though 
saddened  by  the  recent  death  of  good  King 
George!  For  Greece,  all  Greece,  had  just  become 
free,  nearly  a  century  after  the  first  partial  free 
dom.  Crete,  all  Thessaly,  Macedonia,  the  Is 
lands,  at  last  under  the  blue  and  white  flag  of 
Hellas,  and  Epiros  too,  where  brave  Constantine, 
the  beloved  new  King,  had  just  carried  the  last 
Turkish  stronghold,  Janina. 

PICNICS 

Only  a  few  years  ago  in  beloved  Hellas  the 
Greeks  now  in  America  used  to  repair  with  the 
jolly  throngs  up  the  slopes  of  Argolis  or  climb 
to  some  craggy  plateau  about  a  chapel  or  mon 
astery  in  Arcadia  or  Laconia,  and  there  celebrate 
a  Saint's  day  with  feast  and  dance.  Therefore 
here,  too,  in  this  foreign  land  the  Greek  loves  to 
go  on  picnics.  For  example,  the  New  York 
Greeks  have  a  big  picnic  three  or  four  times  a 
year,  on  which  many  hundreds,  often  thousands, 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES          93 

go.  They  hire  a  band — in  Chicago  they  have  a 
band  of  their  own — and  a  boat,  and  sail  to  some 
resort  with  American  and  Greek  flags  flying. 
And  there  they  play  Greek  and  American  games, 
and  dance  Greek  dances,  holding  hands  in  a  circle 
and  cavorting  about,  and  American  dances  too ; 
and  generally,  like  the  Klephts  of  yore,  they 
roast  whole  lambs  on  spits  before  an  open  fire, 
just  as  they  used  to  do  in  Greece. 

CHURCH  FEASTS  AND  FASTS 

Taking  into  account  the  conditions  under 
which  they  live,  the  Greeks  of  America  keep 
pretty  faithfully  three  of  the  four  great  fasting 
seasons  of  the  Church,  viz.,  the  Christmas  Fast, 
(our  Advent)  which  begins  November  15th 
(Greek  style)—  28th  (Western  style);  the  fast 
which  begins  two  weeks  before  the  Falling  Asleep 
of  the  Holy  Birth-giver  of  God  (corresponding 
to  the  Western  "Assumption")  on  August  15th 
— 28th;  and  the  Great  Fast  (Lent),  beginning 
on  Monday  (they  have  no  Ash  Wednesday)  and 
lasting  forty-eight  days.  The  fourth  fast  is  that 
before  the  Feast  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  June 
29th — July  12th,  but  it  is  not  usually  kept  by 
them  in  America.  The  strictness  of  the  fast  is 
somewhat  graded  for  different  times,  but  it  is 
infinitely  more  stringent  than  in  western  usage. 
It  consists  in  abstinence  from  meat,  eggs,  butter, 
cheese,  and  sometimes  from  fish  and  even  oil.  The 
Greeks  here,  because  of  the  hard  conditions  of 


94  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

their  work,  usually  keep  strictly  in  Lent  proper 
only  the  first  and  last  weeks. 

The  four  feasts  above  mentioned  are  the  days 
of  obligation  for  Holy  Communion — or  to  speak 
more  correctly,  the  seasons,  as  the  Communion 
is  usually  made  during  the  preceding  fasting  sea 
son.  Thus  the  Easter  Communion,  which  no 
good  Orthodox  fails  in,  is  very  rarely  made  on 
Easter  Day  itself,  but  some  time  during  Lent, 
usually  on  the  Saturday  before  or  Palm  Sun 
day. 

From  the  best  information  I  can  get,  though 
of  course  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  accurately, 
about  one-half  of  the  Greek  men  in  America  make 
their  fast,  confession  and  Communion  regularly 
at  least  for  Easter,  and  this  includes  nearly  all 
over  25  years  of  age.  It  is  the  youths  who  have 
become  slack.  This  is,  however,  I  think  I  may 
venture  to  state,  a  better  showing  than  among 
those  men  in  America,  foreign  and  native,  at  the 
present  time  who  were  baptized  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

The  Greeks  attend  their  church  services,  where 
they  have  them,  I  should  say  better  than  Episco 
palians  or  Protestants.  On  certain  days  nearly 
all  turn  out:  Easter,  Holy  Thursday  and  Good 
Friday  evenings,  Christmas,  New  Year;  and  very 
many,  when  they  can  get  away  from  work,  on 
the  Epiphany,  the  Falling  Asleep  of  the  Theo- 
tokos,  St.  George's  Day  (May  23 — June  5)  and 
also  on  the  Sunday  after  Easter  (called  "St. 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES          95 

Thomas'  Sunday"  from  the  Gospel  for  the  day, 
as  are  designated  most  of  their  Sundays). 

The  Christmas  Mass  begins  at  midnight  and 
lasts  till  about  2 :00  or  3 :00  A.  M.,  when  all  go  to 
the  restaurants  or  home,  and  feast  as  at  Easter. 

New  Year's  Day,  not  Christmas,  is  the  day  the 
Greeks  give  presents  to  each  other.4 

Holy  Week  is  filled  with  services,  especially 
Great  Thursday,  Great  Friday,  and  Great  Sat 
urday  (to  use  the  Greek  names).  At  the  Great 
Friday  Matins,  usually  on  Thursday  evening, 
there  are  Twelve  Gospels,  relating  the  whole  ac 
count  of  our  Lord's  sufferings.  The  three  Holy 
Week  services  that  are  fully  attended  are  this, 
the  Good  Friday  night  service,  and  the  Easter 
service  the  next  midnight.  These  are  the  services 
which  Americans  should  attend,  if  they  wish  to 
witness  what  the  Greeks'  most  love  and  celebrate 
with  the  greatest  fervor. 

The  Good  Friday  night  service  5  is  that  of  the 
Entombment  of  our  Lord.  That  night  all  over 
the  United  States  are  crowded  churches,  or  per 
haps  stuffy  hired  halls,  everybody  standing  (the 

*  Speaking  of  feast  days,  let  us  note  that  one  of  the 
great  feasts  of  the  Orthodox  Church  is  that  of  the  Trans 
figuration.  The  Churches  of  Rome  and  England  have  prac 
tically  dropped  this,  but  it  has  been  restored  in  the  American 
Church. 

s  Properly  this  is  the  Easter  Eve  service  and  should  begin 
at  midnight,  after  Good  Friday  has  passed;  but  as  the 
Greeks  in  America  have  to  go  to  work  the  next  day,  Satur 
day,  and  be  up  all  the  next  night,  this  service  is  usually 
begun  early  Friday  evening. 


96  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Greeks  never  kneel  or  sit),  with  the  flare  of  hun 
dreds  of  tapers  that  everyone  holds,  the  smoke 
of  incense,  the  weird  music  in  which  all  join  from 
time  to  time.  And  the  priest  wanders  smilingly 
about  sprinkling  everybody  with  scented  water. 
In  the  midst  stands  a  representation  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher,6  a  sort  of  canopied  litter  surmounted 
by  candles  and  covered  with  flowers;  and  within 
is  laid  a  little  image  of  the  Crucified.  And  the 
priest  takes  from  the  Altar  the  closely  figured 
"winding-sheet"  and  carries  it  about  on  his  head 
and  lays  it  in  the  tomb  and  on  it  the  Book  of  the 
Holy  Gospels.  They  pick  up  the  Sepulcher  and 
march  around,  all  joining  in  the  procession  and 
singing  of  the  Burial  and  Descent  into  Hell,  of 
Joseph  and  the  myrrh-bearing  women.  Properly 
this  procession  should  be  out  of  doors,  but  this 
is  rarely  feasible  in  America  except  at  Tarpon 
Springs,  Chicago,  and  some  other  places. 

But  the  service  of  services  is  that  of  Easter, 
the  Feast  of  Feasts.  It  begins  somewhat  before 
midnight,  when  the  beautiful  Easter  Canon  is 
sung,  with  its  opening  canticle,  familiar  to  us  in 
Dr.  Neale's  translation: 

"The  Day  of  Resurrection, 

Earth !  tell  it  out  abroad ! 
The  Passover  of  gladness ! 

The  Passover  of  God! 
From  Death  to  Life  Eternal, 

From  this  world  to  the  sky, 

«  See  picture  of  Lowell  Church. 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES          97 

Our  CHRIST  hath  brought  us  over, 
With  hymns  of  victory."  7 

As  the  stroke  of  midnight  comes,  the  priest  cries 
with  a  loud  voice,  "Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead, 
trampling  down  Death  by  death,  and  upon  those 
in  the  tomb  bestowing  life.  Christos  aneste!" 
(Xptoros  avwTc)  And  the  multitudes  answer, 
"Aneste  alethos"  ('AveVre  aXrjOw)  ;  and  all  light 
their  tapers  from  the  three-branched  candle  of 
the  priest  and  exchange  with  each  other  the  East 
er  kiss  and  the  Easter  greeting.  The  Divine 
Liturgy  is  then  celebrated  with  its  fullest  pomp. 
Afterwards  the  happy  crowds  throng  out  of  the 
church  and  hasten  to  their  festive  restaurants — 
or  to  their  homes,  if  they  be  so  fortunate  as  to 
have  them — and  there  they  feast  on  lamb  and 
sumptuous  viands  and  eat  the  red-dyed  eggs.  For 
everyone  is  furnished  with  an  egg,  and  the  feast 
ing  begins  with  the  time-honored  custom  of  each 
knocking  his  egg  against  that  of  his  neighbor, 
saying  at  the  same  time  the  Easter  greeting — the 
strongest  egg  gives  its  owner  the  best  luck.  And 
thus  having  broken  their  long  fast,  they  sing  and 
dance  and  laugh  and  carouse  like  happy  children 
long  after  sunrise.  On  Easter  afternoon  also 
there  is  a  short  service  to  which  many  go. 

7  Neale  translates  the  whole  long  Canon,  but  his  works 
are  out  of  print.  Brownlie  also  has  a  complete  translation, 
"Hymns  of  the  Greek  Church,"  pp.  67-78.  Forty-one  beauti 
ful  hymns  found  in  the  various  church  hymnals  of  England 
and  America  are  translations  from  the  Eastern  Orthodox 
Service  Books. 


98  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

THE  SUNDAY  LITURGY 

The  regular  Sunday  service  of  the  Greeks  in 
America — and  there  is  but  one  a  Sunday — is  the 
Divine  Liturgy  or  Holy  Eucharist.  Let  me  de 
scribe  it.8 

I  have  often  been  told,  and  have  read  it,  that 
the  service  is  three  hours  long.  This  is  not  so. 
The  Mass  itself,  sermon  and  all,  is  not  more  than 
an  hour  and  a  half.  It  is  the  singing  that  pre 
cedes  it  that  takes  up  another  hour  or  so  during 
which  the  worshipers  come  in,  some  at  the  begin 
ning,  some  not  till  the  actual  Liturgy.  Thus  if 
you  go  to  a  Greek  Liturgy  and  try  to  follow  it  in 
translation,  don't  try  until,  with  an  obvious  break 
in  the  service,  the  Priest  comes  out  of  the  central 
doors  of  the  screen  and  chants  sonorously: 

"EvXoyrifJLtvrj  f)  BamXeia  rov  IlaTpos,  *at  TOU  Ytoi5,  KCH 
rov  ayiov  IIj/ei^u,aTos"(pronounced — Evlogheemenee  ee 
vasileea  tou  Patros,  kay  tou  Eeoii,  kay  tou 
agheeou  Nefmatos)  and  then  you  will  hear  the 
opening  litany  with  the  singers'  and  people's  oft 
recurring  response,  "Ku/oie  eAe^o-ov"  (Keeriee  elay- 
eeson). 

The  long  chanting  of  the  singers,  monotonous 
to  our  ears,  which  always  precedes  the  Liturgy 

8  I  should  strongly  advise  the  reader  to  buy  Campbell's 
little  "Manual"  (see  Bibliography,  Appendix  B,  IV),  and 
attend  a  Liturgy  himself.  If  he  does  so,  he  will  be  strongly 
impressed  with  what  seems  a  lack  of  reverence.  But  let  us 
remember  that  a  Greek  attending  a  service  in  a  Protestant 
church  in  America,  is  also  strongly  impressed  with  what 
seems  to  him  a  lack  of  reverence. 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES          99 

proper  for  an  hour  or  so,  is  one  of  the  eight 
"Tones"  which  are  sung  in  rotation  on  successive 
Sundays  through  the  year,  with  special  festal  ad 
ditions  on  feast  days.  Each  "Tone"  is  a  long 
poetical  composition  formed  of  five  hymns  and  a 
"Canon"  of  nine  "Odes."  9 

They  tell  in  prose  poetry  of  the  glories  of  the 
Incarnation,  the  Cross,  the  Resurrection,  of  the 
Eternal  Trinity,  of  the  All-Holy  Birth-giver  of 
God,  of  sin  and  mercy,  of  death  and  eternal  life. 

"Lull  to  tranquillity, 

Christ,  Divine  Lord, 
The  sea  storm-swept 

By  my  passions  dread  wave ; 
As  Thou  art  compassionate, 

Lead  thou  me  forth, 
Forth  from  corruption, 

O  Mighty  to  save. 

Glory  to  thy  Resurrection,  O  Lord." 
(Tone  V,  6th  Ode  of  the   Canon,  Versified  by  the 
author.) 

You  enter  the  Greek  church,  or  mayhap  the 
hired  hall.  The  men,  women,  and  children  that 
pass  through  the  porch  step  and  kiss  the  gaudily 

»  See  Miss  Hapgood's  "Service  Book,"  Appendix  A,  which 
gives  translations  of  all  the  "Tones";  also  Campbell's  "Man 
ual,"  pp.  60-64  and  table  to  find  them  on  the  last  page.  Many 
of  Neale's  and  Brownlie's  metrical  translations  are  from 
these  "Tones,"  and  their  festal  additions  (See  Bibliography, 
App.  B,  IV),  and  from  these  may  be  gained  the  best  idea 
of  their  simple  and  exalted  poetry  and  devotion. 


100  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

painted  Eikon,  take  a  little  taper  from  the  table, 
light  it,  and  stick  it  in  the  candle  stand,  symbol 
of  the  offering  of  worship  of  each,  and  drop  a 
piece  of  money  in  the  plate.  Within  all  are  stand 
ing — though  they  will  kindly  offer  you  a  chair,  if 
there  be  one,  in  appreciation  of  your  western 
weakness.  The  singers  at  either  end  of  the  Eikon- 
painted  screen  which  shuts  off  the  sanctuary  are 
chanting  the  long  Tone.  Behind  the  Eikon- 
screen,  unseen,  the  Priest  is  preparing  the  elements 
and  saying  the  office  of  the  Prothesis  (or  Prepara 
tion).  At  last  he  comes  forth  from  the  central 
doors  in  heavily  embroidered  vestments  and  begins 
the  Liturgy.  After  a  litany  comes  a  series  of  an- 
tiphonal  singing.10  And  then  from  the  left-hand 
door,  preceded  by  an  acolyte  or  two  (probably 
unvested)  with  lighted  candles,  the  priest  ad 
vances,  bearing  the  book  of  the  Holy  Gospels.  As 
the  service  proceeds  he  carries  it  to  the  Holy  Table 
and  the  Epistle  is  intoned  by  the  Reader.  Then, 
after  much  incense,  the  priest  faces  the  people 
and  sings  the  Gospel ;  after  which  he  preaches, 
usually  an  exposition  of  the  Gospel  for  the  day. 
The  next  most  obvious  event  in  the  service  is,  after 
a  time,  the  Great  Entrance,  when  again  the  pro 
cession  comes  forth  from  the  north  door,  with  the 
Priest,  carrying  the  veiled  paten  on  his  head 

10  The  "Prayer  of  the  Third  Antiphon,"  said  secretly  by  the 
priest,  is  our  "Prayer  of  St.  Chrysostom,"  so  familiar  to 
Anglicans  at  the  end  of  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  in  our 
"Book  of  Common  Prayer." 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES        101 

and  the  chalice  in  his  hand,  and  passes  to  the 
Altar.11 

After  more  singing  and  a  litany,  one  of  the 
singers  monotones  the  Symbol  of  the  Faith,  the 
Nicene  Creed. 

Then,  with  the  Holy  Doors  closed  to  veil  the 
Divine  Mystery,  follows  the  Anaphora,  the  cen 
tral  part  of  the  Mass  with  the  Consecration  of 
the  bread  and  wine.  I  will  not  attempt  to  de 
scribe  further,  save  to  say  that  therein  is  con 
tained,  just  as  in  every  Liturgy  of  the  Holy  Cath 
olic  Church,  the  same  Sursum  Corda  and  Preface 
and  three-fold  Sanctus,  the  same  words  of  insti 
tution,  the  Oblation,  the  Invocation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  and  just  before  the  Elevation  of  the  Host 
and  the  Communion  of  the  Priest  is  chanted  the 
Lord's  Prayer. 

If — often  there  are  none — there  are  any  com 
munions  made  by  the  laity  on  the  day  you  attend 
the  Divine  Liturgy,  you  will  see  the  faithful  ad 
vance  to  the  steps  before  the  Altar,  and  after  a 
low  reverence  receive  from  a  spoon  both  Elements 
together,  while  a  great  colored  cloth  is  held  beneath 
the  chin.  At  the  last  Greek  Eucharist  I  attended, 
two  families  comprised  the  communicants,  con 
sisting  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  and  two  little 
babies. 

At  the  end  of  the  Liturgy  the  priest  gives  the 

n  The  deacon  should  bear  the  paten,  and  should  have  an 
important  part  in  the  service ;  but  there  are  no  Greek  deacons 
in  America,  as  far  as  I  know,  so  the  priests  have  to  sing 
the  deacons'  parts  as  well  as  their  own. 


102  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

benediction,  holding  aloft  a  small  cross.  After 
this  the  people  receive  the  "Antidoron."  The  dis 
tribution  of  the  Antidoron  is  a  beautiful  Orthodox 
custom.  It  is  as  follows:  Only  a  part  of  the 
loaf  or  loaves,  which  are  always  of  leavened  bread, 
are  cut  out  in  the  service  of  preparation  and 
placed  upon  the  paten  to  be  consecrated.  The 
rest  is  cut  up  by  an  acolyte  into  squares  and 
placed  upon  a  large  tray.  This  tray  is  taken  by 
the  priest  and  held  over  the  Consecrated  Elements 
and  blessed.  Then  at  the  end  of  the  service  these 
breads  are  distributed  to  all  the  people,  or  some 
are  wrapped  up  in  little  pieces  of  paper  and  sent 
to  the  sick  or  to  those  who  for  other  reasons  were 
unable  to  be  present.  And  all  who  receive  the 
Antidoron  must  receive  it  fasting,  just  as  they 
would  if  they  were  making  their  Communion. 
"Antidoron"  means  "instead  of  the  gift."  It  is 
not,  of  course,  sacramental,  but  it  does  convey  a 
blessing. 

CHURCH    MUSIC  12 

"A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  service  is  the  sound  of 
the  music  which  precedes  and  accompanies  the  Liturgy. 

12  This  account,  with  the  footnote  and  cut  of  the  ancient 
Byzantine  music,  which  is  the  music  of  the  present  Greek 
Church,  was  written  for  this  chapter  by  Miss  Marguerite 
Ogden,  of  Portland,  Maine.  It  is  a  most  extraordinary 
and  difficult  subject,  practically  unknown  to  Americans, 
and  almost  unwritten  in  the  English  language.  In  the 
preparation  of  this  she  consulted  the  following  books: — 
"Etudes  sur  la  Musique  Ecclesiastique  Greque,"  Bourgault- 
Ducoudray;  "Trait£  de  Psaltique,"  J.  B.  Rebours;  "Metho- 
dus  Cantus  Ecclesiastici  Graeco-Slavici,"  Joanne  de  Cas- 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES        103 

At  first  it  strikes  a  musical  ear  as  a  weird  and  monot 
onous  wail  always  a  little  off  the  key.  But  as  one 
grows  accustomed  to  it,  the  very  monotony  becomes 
restful,  almost  hypnotic.  The  holding  of  one  note, 
called  the  ison,  by  a  part  of  the  choir  while  the  priest 
or  chief  singer  carries  a  melody  above  it  supplies  a 
kind  of  rude  harmony.  The  droning  of  the  same 
note  at  times  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  so  peculiar 
to  our  ears,  is  intended  to  supply  the  singer  with  the 
tonic  or  starting  note  of  the  mode  in  which  he  is  to 
chant.  It  also  serves  as  would  an  organ  to  keep  him 
on  the  key  (no  instruments  are  used  in  Greek  wor 
ship  except  occasionally  a  violin  to  give  the  pitch). 
In  a  well  trained  choir  the  ison  is  changed  with  skill 
and  precision  as  the  leading  voice  modulates  from  one 
key  or  mode  to  another.  In  some  churches  there  are 
two  divisions  of  the  choir  and  only  one  book.  A  small 
boy  between  the  two  bears  the  book  first  to  one  side 
and  then  to  the  other  as  alternately  they  chant  the 
words  of  the  service  or  hold  the  ison.  The  impression 
conveyed  of  the  singing  being  always  off  the  key  is 
owing  to  the  fact  that  between  a  whole  and  half  tone 
(the  only  intervals  of  which  we  take  cognizance)  there 
exists  in  Byzantine  music  such  fine  gradations  as  J  of 
a  tone,  £  of  a  tone,  etc.13 

tro;  "Hymns  of  the  Eastern  Church,"  4th  Edition  with 
music,  J.  M.  Neale;  "'Avcurrcwi/xa  rdpiov,"  Nikolaos  G. 
Protopsastos. 

is  "There  are  three  kinds  of  scales  in  Greek  music,  the 
diatonic,  enharmonic,  chromatic.  The  first  resembles  a 
Gregorian  tone,  approximately  our  D  minor  scale;  the  en 
harmonic  cannot  in  practice  be  distinguished  from  the  dia 
tonic;  the  chromatic,  most  characteristically  oriental  and 
capable  of  expressing  great  piety  is  somewhat  such  an 
effect  as  to  play  on  the  piano  C,  D  flat,  E  natural,  F,  G,  A 


104  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

"As  you  listen  to  a  service  you  may  discover  that 
words  are  set  to  music  in  three  distinct  ways:  there 
may  be  one  note  to  one  syllable,  two  notes  to  one 
syllable,  or  a  whole  melody  sung  to  one  syllable.  The 
latter  is  used  in  chanting  the  Divine  Liturgy,  and  of 
it  the  following  description  is  given  by  Joanne  de  Cas 
tro:  'A  certain  Russian  traveler  assisted  at  the  of 
fice  of  the  Feast  of  St.  Andrew  on  the  celebrated 
monastic  peninsular  of  Mount  Athos,  whose  litur 
gical  order  is  most  highly  esteemed  by  the  Greeks.  The 
chief  singer,  after  he  should  have  finished  a  certain 
canticle,  continued  singing  ten  minutes  in  a  lively  and 
joyful  voice  "gei-gei-gei,  etc.,"  and  above  it  was  heard 
the  singing  of  the  Troparia  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary.  First  would  come  two  words  of  the  latter; 
then  incessantly,  constantly,  would  issue  forth  for  the 
space  of  ten  minutes  a  labyrinth  of  trembling  and  flut 
tering  sound  like  a  nightingale;  and  after  two  more 
words  of  the  troparia  the  chief  singer  would  return 
to  the  same  ornament.  So  that  one  whole  hour  was 
consumed  in  the  singing  of  this  short  troparia/ 

"The  melodic  beauties  of  this  ancient  Byzantine 
music  have  been  so  long  unknown  to  the  western  world 
because  they  are  written  in  neumes  or  signs  instead 
of  by  staffs  and  notes.  A  casual  glance  at  a  service 
book  in  a  Greek  church  would  lead  one  to  think  that 
he  had  by  chance  opened  a  stenographer's  notebook, 
so  much  do  the  characters  of  this  music  written  in 
neumes  resemble  the  dots  and  dashes  of  shorthand. 

flat,  B  natural,  C.  There  are  eight  modes  which  are  some 
what  the  equivalent  in  our  music  of  scales  played  on  dif 
ferent  notes,  whereas  diatonic,  enharmonic,  chromatic,  rep 
resent  what  would  be  the  major  or  minor  form  of  the 
scale." 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES        105 

There  are  no  lines  or  staff  signs,  as  the  music  is  all 
sung  in  unison,  and  no  notes  of  various  shapes  to  give 
the  absolute  duration  of  time.  The  unit  of  time  is  a 
regular  beating  with  the  hand,  a  downward  and  up 
ward  stroke  making  one  measure,  as  it  were.  This 
simple  beat  never  varies,  although  the  time  relation 
of  the  various  signs  to  each  other  is  often  quite  com 
plicated.  Five  different  kinds  of  signs  are  employed 
in  writing  in  neumes, — those  indicating  ascending  in 
tervals,  descending  intervals,  measure,  modulations  of 
the  voice,  and  the  key  signs  called  'marturia/  which 
give  the  tonic  or  starting  note  of  the  music.  For  as 
these  signs  express  only  relative  intervals  and  not  def 
inite  pitch,  they  cannot  be  interpreted  at  all  unless 
the  singer  begins  at  a  key  sign  where  the  tonic  of  the 
mode  in  which  he  is  to  sing  is  given  him. 

"Example  I.  The  first  line  of  Psalm  141,  taken 
from  the  Service  of  Great  Vespers,  gives  an  idea  of 
music  written  in  neumes  and  the  translation  into  west 
ern  notation.  'Echos'  means  tone.  The  sign  look 
ing  like  a  'g'  with  two  dots  over  it  signifies  first  tone 
and  pa  is  the  Greek  syllable  for  our  note  re,  indicating 
that  the  tonic  of  this  tone  is  D  above  middle  C.  The 
first  sign,  called  in  Greek  petaste,  indicates  that  the 
voice  mounts  one  step  from  the  tonic  D ;  so  this  chant 
begins  on  the  E  above  middle  C.  The  next  sign  called 
apostrophos  indicates  that  the  voice  descends  one  step. 
The  third  sign  called  ison  indicates  that  the  previous 
note  is  to  be  repeated.  The  fourth  sign  called  oligon 
indicates  one  ascending  step.  In  the  fifth  combination 
of  two  signs  the  lower  one  an  oligon  indicates  another 
ascending  step,  while  the  little  one  above  called  klasma 
is  a  time  sign  and  adds  one  beat  to  the  note  over  which 


106  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

it  is  placed.  The  sixth  sign  called  vareia  indicates 
that  the  following  note  is  to  be  accented. 

"Example  II  is  the  music  of  a  Gloria  written  in  the 
8th  tone  or  plagal  of  the  4th  tone,,  tonic  on  C,  taken 
from  the  Traite  de  Psaltique.  The  words  are  'Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  Trinity,  consubstantial,  not  di 
vided.'  A  peculiarity  of  these  examples  which  can 
not  be  represented  in  our  notation  is  that  in  descend 
ing  the  scale  by  the  law  of  attraction  certain  notes 
are  half  flatted,  that  is  in  Ex.  I  the  distance  from 
mi  to  re  is  about  three-quarters  of  a  tone. 

"This  music  of  the  Greek  Church,  though  in  notation 
and  interval  quite  different  from  that  of  the  western 
world,  should  by  no  means  be  approached  as  a  subject 
of  fossil  and  remote  interest.  It  not  only  adequately 
voiced  the  wonderful  liturgies  of  the  Christian  Church 
during  the  years  of  their  inception  and  growth,  but  is  a 
living  art  to-day.  It  would  reasonably  seem  that  this 
music  holds  for  the  Western  Church  a  wealth  of  mel 
odic  variety  and  rhythmic  versatility  impossible  to  the 
more  rigid  intervals  and  stricter  mathematical  divi 
sions  of  time  in  the  West.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  as  the 
way  opens  for  reciprocal  influence  between  eastern  and 
western  musicians,  the  latter  may  be  led  to  appreciate 
and  absorb  the  delicacies  of  tone  and  the  freedom  of 
rhythm  whereby  the  former  are  able  to  express  shades 
of  religious  emotion  as  nicely  as  the  Greek  language 
has  given  subtle  turns  to  Christian  philosophic 
thought." 

HOUSEHOLD   EIKONS 

In  the  Fatherland  each  house  had  its  house 
hold  Eikon — even  the  Greek  ships  have  their 


ExI 


.Has. 


v  pi 


s  xz    xp«  «  oe  40:0: 

E  x  II 


A.      a 


5    pa   V*    ov        xote, 


oov  Ilvsv  cv        ay      sv 


Jo.    o 


* 


frC-j-  rrrrrrr<l^Jj^°1-^ 

M-OL-dG,  O-U.O-O'U-Ol-OV'MU, , 
Byzantine  Musical  Notation. 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES        107 

Eikon  of  St.  Nicholas.  In  like  manner  in  Amer 
ica  in  the  homes  of  every  Greek  family  and  in  the 
lodging  houses  where  several  Greeks  live  together, 
may  be  found  the  ever  present  Eikon,  one  or 
more.  They  are  generally  small  and  painted  in 
bright  colors  and  reverently  framed.  Perhaps 
the  most  common,  especially  the  first,  are:  St. 
George  (Patron  Saint  of  Greece)  Slaying  the 
Dragon ;  the  Panaghia,  the  All  Holy  Virgin ;  the 
Christ ;  and  the  three  Patriarchs,  Saints  Basil, 
Gregory,  and  John  Chrysostom.  Every  Satur 
day  night  and  on  the  eve  of  a  feast — in  many 
households,  every  night — the  little  lamp  is  lighted 
before  the  Eikon — symbol  of  the  intercession  of 
the  Church  Triumphant  for  the  Church  Militant. 

OTHER   RITES   AND   CEREMONIES 

Besides  the  regular  public  services,  there  are,  of 
course,  the  various  sacramental  and  other  minis 
trations  in  church  and  in  the  houses  which  the 
overworked  Greek  priests  in  America  are  contin 
ually  called  out  to  attend,  not  only  in  their  own 
parishes  but,  in  the  cases  of  baptisms,  weddings, 
and  funerals  through  all  the  region  roundabout. 
The  more  important  are:  Holy  Baptism  with 
the  accompanying  Holy  Chrismation  (the  equiv 
alent  of  Confirmation)  Holy  Matrimony,  the 
Churching  of  women  forty  days  after  the  birth  of 
a  child,  the  blessing  of  houses,  the  visitation  and 
Communion  of  the  sick  and  dying,  and  the  burial 
of  the  dead.  The  Greeks  call  in  the  priest  (and 


108  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

they  call  him  in  for  a  good  many  things)  just  as 
they  would  call  a  doctor  (indeed  he  is  a  doctor  of 
souls),  and  they  always  pay  a  fee.  In  the  case  of 
weddings  the  guests  make  up  a  purse,  as  it  were, 
which  usually  constitutes  a  most  generous  fee. 
The  Greeks  do  not  look  upon  their  priests,  as 
many  Episcopalians  do  on  theirs  and  Protestants 
on  their  ministers,  as  social  gadabouts,  from 
whom  everybody  expects  a  nice  call  and  is  mad  if 
she  or  he  doesn't  get  it,  and  especially  if  a  body  is 
ill  the  parson  is  expected  to  be  telepathetically 
cognizant  of  the  fact  and  is  rarely  sent  for.  No, 
the  Greeks  believe  that  a  priest  is  ordained  of  God 
to  administer  from  God  realities  of  grace  and  ben 
ediction.  And  although  they  may  sometimes  de 
spise  the  man  for  his  lack  of  education  or  his 
worldly-mindedness,  they  nevertheless  respect  the 
priest  and  treat  him  with  the  proper  marks  of 
courtesy,  as  doffing  their  hats,  or  rising  when  he 
enters  the  room. 

Let  us  describe  two  only  of  the  special  rites, 
weddings  and  funerals.  The  former  occur  some 
where  in  the  United  States  on  every  Sunday  in  the 
year  and  often  week  days,  except  during  Lent; 
the  latter  will  occur  oftener  in  America  as  time 
passes  onward. 

WEDDINGS 

On  the  morning  of  the  wedding  (or  the  Sunday 
before,  if  it  takes  place  on  a  week  day,  which  is 
not  usual)  the  Orthodox  bride  and  groom  al- 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES        109 

ways  receive  Holy  Communion.  The  marriage 
ceremony  usually  is  performed  in  the  afternoon  in 
the  bride's  house  or  in  the  church.  The  wedding 
party  marches  to  the  church  or  house,  headed  by 
musicians  playing  oriental  instruments.  In  the 
center  of  the  room  stands  a  table  on  which  are 
placed  the  book  of  the  Gospels,  two  rings  and  two 
crowns  of  wax  or  real  flowers  or  of  metal.  The 
bride  and  groom  are  given  lighted  tapers  to  hold. 
The  service,  which  is  very  ancient  and  perfect  in 
its  arrangement,  consists  of  beautiful  prayers 
filled  with  Scripture  citations,  and  litanies  and 
festal  responses,  with  the  128th  Psalm,  an  Epistle 
and  Gospel,14  and  the  following  symbolic  cere 
monies:  "The  Rings,"  which  the  priest,  after 
signing  the  heads  of  the  bride  and  groom,  places 
upon  the  right  hand  of  each  and  then  the  para- 
nymphos  (bridesman  or  "friend  of  the  bride 
groom,"  representing  the  father)  exchanges  them 
thrice;  "The  Coronation" — the  priest  places  the 
crowns  on  the  heads,  as  they  stand  with  little  fin 
gers  united,  and  the  paranymphos  immediately  ex 
changes  them ;  •  "The  Common  Cup"  of  blessed 
(not  consecrated)  wine,  of  which  both  partake. 
And  then  they  march  round  the  table,  the  para 
nymphos  holding  the  crowns  on  from  behind. 
Finally  the  priest  takes  off  the  crowns  and  blesses 
the  couple  and  they  kiss  each  other,  and  the 
friends  and  relations  congratulate  them,  and  kiss 
— not  the  happy  pair,  but  the  crowns ;  and  every- 
i*Ephesians  5:20-33  and  St.  John  2:1-12. 


110  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

one  receives  a  little  box  or  bag  stamped  with  the 
names  of  the  groom  and  bride  and  containing  a 
special  nuptial  kind  of  colored  candies  about  the 
size  and  shape  of  a  small  bird's  egg.  This  latter 
Greek  custom  is,  of  course,  not  found  in  the  ru 
brics  :  it  seems  to  be  the  equivalent  of  our  wedding 
cake.  Sometimes  other  customs  take  its  place. 
The  wedding  feast  usually  is  spread,  not  at  the 
bride's  home,  but  at  that  of  the  groom,  if  he  have 
one ;  and  as  the  pair  enter  the  house  the  mother  of 
the  groom,  and  only  she  or  the  nearest  woman  rela 
tive,  throws  rice  upon  them. 

Holy  Matrimony  to  the  Greek,  as  they  are 
taught  at  home  and  in  their  catechism  at  public 
school,  is  a  very  solemn  sacrament,  sanctifying 
and  giving  grace  for  the  perfecting  of  the  indis 
soluble  and  most  sacred  of  human  relationships. 
Nor  does  their  service  fail,  as  do  our  English  serv 
ices,  in  frequent  prayers  for  fair  children  as  the 
longed-for  fruit  of  the  union.  Divorce  is  almost 
unknown  among  the  Greeks.  The  terrible  laxness 
of  the  marriage  tie  in  America  and  the  equally 
terrible  curtailment  of  offspring  among  "civilized" 
Americans,  shock  the  Greek  when  he  comes  here. 

Here  is  the  beautiful  prayer  just  before  the 
Coronation,  and  during  which  the  hands  are 
joined: 

"O  Holy  God,  who  didst  form  man  out  of  the  dust, 
and  of  his  rib  didst  raise  up  woman,  and  join  her  to 
him  as  a  helpmeet  for  him,  for  so  it  pleased  thy 


CELEBRATIONS  AND  RITES        111 

Majesty  that  man  should  not  be  alone  upon  the  earth: 
do  Thou  Thyself  now,  O  Lord,  stretch  forth  Thy 
hand  from  Thy  holy  dwelling  place,  and  join  together 
Thy  servant  (N)  and  Thy  handmaid  (N)  for  by 
Thee  is  woman  joined  unto  man.  Unite  them  in  har 
mony  of  mind;  wed  them  into  one  flesh;  and  grant 
them  the  fruit  of  the  womb,  the  joy  of  good  children. 
For  Thine  is  the  might,  and  Thine  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power  and  the  glory,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  now  and  ever,  and  unto  ages  of  ages.  AMEN." 

FUNERALS 

When  the  Greek  dies  here,  a  stranger  in  a 
strange  land,  his  church  performs  the  last  rites, 
in  the  church  building,  if  there  be  one,  with 
wondrously  solemn  service:  filled  with  hymns,  sad 
and  beautiful,  telling  of  earthly  vanity  and  sor 
row,  and  rest  and  Paradise,  and  the  oft  recurring 
petition  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the  departed. 
In  the  church,  feet  to  the  Altar  and  the  east,  is 
the  open  coffin,  an  Eikon  of  the  Savior  in  the  dead 
hand,  four  candlesticks  standing  crosswise  about 
the  bier.  All  hold  lighted  tapers.  At  the  end 
of  the  service  the  priest,  and  sometimes  others, 
makes  an  oration,  and  then  the  "last  kiss"  is 
given,  all  filing  by  and  stooping  to  kiss  the  dead. 
And  at  the  grave,  with  chant  and  prayer,  includ 
ing  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  priest  strews  crosswise 
a  shovelful  of  dust,  and  sprinkles  wine  and  oil  and 
ashes  from  the  censer.  There  is  a  separate  serv 
ice,  a  most  beautifully  pathetic  one,  for  the  burial 
of  a  little  child,  and  also  one  for  the  burial  of  a 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

priest.  Here  is  the  closing  part  of  the  long  final 
hymn  in  the  service  for  the  burial  of  laymen, 
chanted  while  the  last  kiss  is  being  given.15 

"Behold  and  weep  me,  friends  and  brethren! 
Voice,  sense,  and  breath,  and  motion  gone; 
But  yesterday  I  dwelt  among  you; 

Then  death's  most  fearful  hour  came  on. 

"Embrace  me  with  the  last  embracement; 

Kiss  me  with  this,  the  latest  kiss; 
Never  again  shall  I  be  with  you; 
Never  with  you  share  woe  or  bliss. 

"I  go  before  the  dread  tribunal 

Where  no  man's  person  is  preferr'd; 
Where  lord  and  slave,  where  chief  and  soldier, 
Where  rich  and  poor  alike  are  heard: 

"One  is  the  manner  of  their  judgment; 
Their  plea  and  their  condition  one; 
And  they  shall  reap  in  woe  or  glory 
The  earthly  deeds  that  they  have  done. 

"I  pray  you,  brethren,  I  adjure  you, 

Pour  forth  to  Christ  the  ceaseless  prayer, 
He  would  not  doom  me  to  Gehenna, 
But  in  his  glory  give  me  share!" 

15  Translated  literally  by  Dr.  Neale. 


VII 

THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  GREEKS 

It  is  necessary  to  insert  here  a  chapter  explain 
ing  definitely  just  what  this  church  of  the  Greeks 
is,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  majority  of 
Americans,  educated  as  well  as  uneducated,  have 
very  vague  and  erroneous  notions  about  it. 
Americans  are  apt  to  divide  all  Christianity  into 
two  parts,  Catholic  (meaning  Roman  Catholic) 
and  Protestant.  And  here  is  the  bewildering  phe 
nomena  of  a  great  church  which  claims  to  be  and 
is  neither;  whose  members  hate  the  Pope  as  much 
as  any  Presbyterian  and  who  would  laugh  at  you 
if  you  called  them  Protestant — why,  the  East 
erns  call  the  Pope  "the  first  great  Protestant." 
Yet  the  Holy  Eastern  Orthodox  Church  (the 
Greek  Church  is  only  a  part  of  it  and  not  the  cor 
rect  title  for  the  whole),  which  has  already  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  of  her  children  in  America, 
comprises  in  all  over  120,000,000,  or  about  one 
quarter  of  all  the  Christians  in  the  world. 
Whence  came  this  great  section  of  Christianity/ 
and  how  do  the  Eastern  Orthodox  regard  their 
church  and  the  rest  of  Christendom? 

If  I  were  to  attempt  a  sketch  of  ecclesiastical 
history,  it  would  be  surely  accused  of  Anglican 
bias.     Therefore  let  us  view  the  history  of  Chris- 
113 


116  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

"Since  the  year  313,  under  Constantine  the  Great, 
the  persecutions  had  ceased  and  peace  reigned  in  the 
Church.  During  this  epoch  Christianity  takes  on  its 
first  complete  development.  In  this  period,  the 
Church,  taking  its  occasion  from  the  perverted  teach 
ing  of  the  heretics  then  appearing  (Arians,  Nestori- 
ans,  Eutychians,  Monotheletes,  etc.),  formulates  more 
exactly  and  more  in  detail  the  dogmas  of  Christianity, 
and  by  the  first  Ecumenical  Councils  puts  on  a  more 
perfect  basis  the  affairs  of  administration  and  wor 
ship.  This  epoch,  especially  the  fourth  century  and 
the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century,  is  the  golden  age 
of  the  Church,  because  during  it  the  Church  was 
made  brilliant  by  the  most  illustrious  Greek  ecclesi 
astical  Fathers  and  writers,  Basil,  Athanasius,  the 
two  Gregorys,  Chrysostom  and  others.  This  epoch 
has  momentous  meaning  for  the  Eastern  Orthodox 
Church,  because  all  her  dogmatic,  liturgical  and  ad 
ministrative  structure  is  based  upon  the  principles  of 
the  Ecumenical  Councils  and  the  unanimous  teaching 
of  the  Fathers.  A  final  strife  which  appeared  in  the 
so  far  united  Church  was  that  called  forth  on  the  part 
of  the  Iconoclasts.  But  by  the  last  Ecumenical  Coun 
cil  (7th)  the  Church  in  the  year  787  decided  that  the 
simple  honor  of  the  images  of  the  martyrs  and  the 
saints  of  the  Church  is  allowable  and  indeed  incum 
bent,  in  order  that  their  memory  be  kept  vivid  and  at 
the  same  time  their  virtue  be  honored  by  Christians. 
This  final  strife  of  the  Iconoclasts,  as  also  the  strifes 
which  appeared  arising  from  the  constitution  of  the 
Church,  occasioned  by  different  dogmatic  reasons,  had 
no  great  significance,  and  the  Church  was  one,  and 
all  the  Christians  were  united. 

"It  is  true  that  the  development  of  the  Eastern  and 


CHURCH  OF  THE  GREEKS    117 

the  Western  Church,  from  the  first  centuries  on,  was 
different  in  teaching,  administration  and  worship. 
Starting  from  the  ninth  century,,  there  commenced  to 
spread  in  the  west  the  teaching  about  procession  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  'and  from  the  Son'  (filioque)  while 
the  Church  in  the  East  remained  in  the  teaching  of 
the  creed  of  the  two  first  Ecumenical  Councils.  Like 
wise  there  existed  a  difference  in  the  teaching  'about 
the  relation  of  grace  toward  human  liberty  in  the 
work  of  the  regeneration  of  man/  Likewise  there 
existed  differences  also  in  worship  between  the 
churches  of  the  East  and  of  the  West.  All  these  dif 
ferences,  however,  did  not  give  birth  to  schism,  but 
only  prepared  the  way  for  it. 

"During  the  ninth  century,  however,  there  occurred 
the  schism  between  Easterns  and  Westerns,  which 
from  that  time  forth  separated  the  Western  from  the 
Eastern  Christian  world.  The  Pope  and  the  West 
erns  split  off  from  the  Orthodox  Church.  The  Pope 
was  first  to  give  the  cause,  who  being  possessed  by 
measureless  ambition,  as  Bishop  of  the  ancient  capital 
of  the  Roman  empire,  Rome,  wished  to  impose  (ob 
trude)  himself  upon  the  whole  church  arbitrarily,  as 
serting  and  calling  himself  successor  of  Peter,  and 
in  consequence  -ruler  of  all  the  Church.  It  is  to  be 
noted,  however,  that  one  never  reads  in  the  New 
Testament  that  Peter  orders  around  the  other  apos 
tles;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  chidden  by  Paul  (Gala- 
tians  2:11).  Christ  did  not  give  to  Peter  only  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom,  but  also  to  the  other  apostles 
(Matthew  18:18);  and  in  saying  'Rock  on  which  He 
founded  the  church'  (Matthew  16:18)  Christ  meant 
faith  in  Him,  and  not  Peter  at  all.  And  it  is  en 
tirely  uncertain  whether  the  apostle  Peter  even  went 


118  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

to  Rome;  from  the  New  Testament  nothing  of  the 
sort  appears;  consequently  on  no  ground  can  the  Pope 
be  regarded  as  successor  of  Peter.  Likewise  it  is  to 
be  noted  that  the  ancient  churches  of  the  first  nine 
centuries  in  the  different  lands  were  autocephalous 
and  independent,  and  their  relation  to  each  other  was 
a  relation  of  brother  churches,  self-sufficient  and  free. 
They  simply  rendered  honors  to  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
and  of  Constantinople,  because  these  two  cities  were 
the  capitals  of  the  Roman  empire. 

"And  it  is  indeed  true  that  the  western  peoples, 
being  then  barbarous  and  uncivilized,  since  they  got 
Christianity  from  Rome,  readily  bowed  to  the  arbi 
trary  claims  of  the  Pope;  but  the  Greek  churches  of 
the  East,  which  in  development  surpassed  the  Roman 
Church,  could  not  be  subjected  to  the  high-handed 
ness  of  the  Pope.  Thence  came  on  the  schism. 

"The  occasion  of  the  outbreak  of  the  schism  was 
afforded  by  the  overthrow,  in  the  year  857  under 
Michael  III,  of  the  Patriarch  Ignatius  and  the  rais 
ing  to  the  patriarchal  throne  of  Constantinople  of 
Photius.  In  Constantinople  at  that  time  the  bishops 
were  divided  into  friends  and  enemies  of  Photius. 
The  then  Pope  of  Rome,  Nicholas  I,3  a  man  over- 
ambitious,  taking  advantage  of  the  division  in  Con 
stantinople,  intervened  arbitrarily,  wishing  to  impose 
Ignatius  as  Patriarch  of  the  East.  The  majority  of 
the  eastern  bishops  at  that  time,  in  many  synods,  de 
clared  for  Photius  and  rejected  the  arbitrary  inter 
ventions  of  the  Pope.  The  Pope  Nicholas  moreover, 
acting  very  high-handedly,  excommunicates  Photius. 
The  Easterns  reject  flatly  the  mixing-in  of  the  Pope, 

3  The  first  Pope  to  make  use  of  the  Forged  Isodorian 
Decretals. 


CHURCH  OF  THE  GREEKS    119 

and  protest  against  his  arrogant  intervention.  Thus 
were  broken  off  the  relations  between  the  two  churches 
and  the  schism  began  which  definitively  was  accom 
plished  in  the  year  1054  under  Patriarch  of  Constan 
tinople  Michael  Cerularius.4 

"The  Papal  Church,  thenceforth  cut  off  from  the 
Eastern  Church,  fell  into  many  pieces;  for  having 
abandoned  the  ancient  Christianity  to  which  the  East 
ern  Church  remained  faithful,  she  changed  every 
thing.  And  in  the  first  place  she  changed  the  con 
stitution  of  the  Church;  for  having  taken  away 
the  independence  and  self-government  of  the  local 
churches  of  the  western  lands,  she  instituted  the  sys 
tem  of  papal  despotism,  concentrating  in  the  hands 
of  the  Pope  unlimited  authority.  Besides  this  she 
accepted  many  new  dogmas,  such  as  the  procession 
'and  from  the  Son'  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  sprinkling  in 
baptism,  the  depriving  of  the  laity  of  the  holy  wine 
in  the  Eucharist,  the  immaculate  conception  of  the 
Virgin  Mother,  and  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope. 
And  in  many  other  things  the  Western  Church  made 
innovations,  such  as  in  the  compulsory  celibacy  of  the 
clergy  of  all  the  grades,  as  also  in  the  imposition  in 
worship  of  the  dead  Latin  language  upon  all  peoples. 
Little  by  little  the  high-handedness  of  the  Pope 
reached  such  a  point  that  he  wished  to  enslave  even 
the  emperors  and  kings  of  the  West;  and  through  the 
celebrated  courts  of  the  Holy  Inquisition,  which  the 
wickedness  of  the  Pope  and  his  tools  devised,  thou 
sands  of  men  as  alleged  heretics  were  burned  at  the 
stake. 

"On  account  of  these  great  errors  of  the  Western 

*  When  the  haughty  papal  legates  deposited  upon  the 
Altar  of  St.  Sophia  a  fierce  anathema. 


120  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Church,  there  arose  during  the  16th  century  the  so- 
called  Protestants,  under  the  leadership  of  Luther 
in  Germany  (1517)  and  of  Zwingli  and  Calvin  in 
Switzerland,  who  broke  off  from  the  Western  Church. 
But  these  men  again,  who  so  powerfully  protested 
against  the  errors  (excesses)  of  the  Western  Church, 
in  fleeing  these  were  reduced  to  opposite  exaggera 
tions  and  excesses;  for  they  rejected  not  only  the  tra 
ditions  of  later  origin  of  the  Western  Church,  but 
also  all  the  ancient  traditions  of  Christianity,  and 
held  Holy  Scripture  alone  as  source  of  the  Christian 
teaching,  which  each  interprets  as  he  wills.  They 
stripped  worship  bare,  abolishing  the  most  ancient 
ceremonies  (sacraments),  casting  the  images  from 
their  temples  which  had  adorned  them  from  most  an 
cient  times.  In  general  the  great  liberty  which  from 
the  very  start  distinguished  the  Protestant  Church 
became  a  ground  for  it  to  be  divided  into  myriad 
branches,  mutually  contending  and  not  recognizing 
one  another,  thus  sacrificing  order  to  liberty,  as  the 
Westerns  sacrificed  liberty  to  order.  Out  of  all  the 
branches  of  the  Protestant  Church,  an  exception  is 
formed  by  the  Episcopal  Church,  which  does  not 
hesitate  to  recognize  and  to  confess  the  excesses 
and  exaggerations  of  the  Protestant  Church.  This 
church  has  remained  from  the  first  very  friendly  in 
her  inclinations  toward  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church, 
confessing  that  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church  has 
maintained  the  ancient  Christianity  purer  than  any 
other  church,  and  desiring  unity  with  her.  This  atti 
tude  in  the  Episcopal  Church  is  not  unexpected  and 
inexplicable,  because  this  church,  even  after  the  ref 
ormation  of  the  16th  century  preserving  the  institution 
of  Holy  Orders  and  many  other  Catholic  elements 


CHURCH  OF  THE  GREEKS 

in  her  worship,  approaches  more  closely  to  the  East 
ern  Orthodox  Church  than  any  other  Protestant 
Church,  even  standing  in  a  certain  sense  midway  be 
tween  the  Protestant  Church  and  the  Eastern  Ortho 
dox." 

The  Holy  Eastern  Orthodox  Church  at  the 
present  day  is  divided  into  fifteen  different  parts, 
each  autocephalous  (having  its  own  head),  or  in 
dependent  of  the  other,  yet  with  full  intercom 
munion  and  exact  correspondence  in  doctrine,  dis 
cipline,  and  worship.  It  is  like  the  Anglican  Com 
munion  with  its  30,000,000  divided  into  the  inde 
pendent  churches  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
America,  Canada,  Australia,  China,  etc.  And  as 
these  give  honor  and  precedence  to  the  Primate 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  so  do  all  the  Orthodox 
churches  in  a  somewhat  like  sense  give  honor  to  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  The  fifteen  inde 
pendent  parts  are :  the  four  ancient  Patriarchates 
of  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Je 
rusalem;  the  national  churches  of  Russia,  Monte 
negro,  Greece,  Servia,  and  Bulgaria;  the  ancient 
Metropolitan  Church  of  Cyprus ;  the  Archbishop 
ric  of  Mount  Sinai;  and  the  three  independent 
Metropolitanates  in  Austria-Hungary.  In  Amer 
ica  there  are  people  and  clergy  from  nearly  all 
these  Orthodox  branches.  But  alas,  the  political 
rancor  between  Slav  and  Greek  have  thus  far  made 
cooperation  between  these  two  elements  impos 
sible. 

The  services  of  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church 


122  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

are  sung  and  read  in  the  living  languages  under 
stood  by  the  people — Greek,  Slavonic,  Arabic, 
Roumanian,  numerous  Tartar  dialects,  Japanese, 
etc.,  etc. — sometimes  even  in  English.  The  Bible 
has  never  been  a  closed  book.  The  mighty  Rus 
sian  Church  has  had  for  years  splendid  missions 
throughout  Siberia,  in  Alaska  and  Japan,  and 
elsewhere.  The  Greek  Church  has  done  much  in 
philanthropic  and  educational  work  throughout 
the  Turkish  Empire.  The  laymen  always  take 
a  very  important  part  in  church  organization. 

Religious  toleration  is  everywhere  allowed, 
if  it  does  not  actively  interfere  with  the  national 
church.  But  the  Orthodox  have  learned  to  look 
askance  at  Protestant  proselytism  and  Roman 
propaganda.  For  American  Protestants  to  try 
to  proselytize  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Christians 
here  in  America  is  not  only  an  almost  impossible 
task,  but  also  totally  wrong  and  unchristian. 

The  ancient  Church  of  the  East  though  trodden 
down  and  maimed  by  centuries  of  persecution, 
has  a  glorious  past,  is  a  living  church  to-day,  and 
has  before  her  a  mighty  future. 


VIII 
LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES 

In  this  and  the  three  following  chapters  we 
will  try  to  localize,  and  so  vivify,  what  we  have  de 
scribed  in  the  previous  chapters  by  portraying 
some  of  the  typical  Greek  colonies  of  America. 
Let  us  take  first  the  life  of  the  Greeks  in  the  great 
cities,  and  as  typical  of  this,  that  largest  of  all 
the  Greek  settlements  of  our  country,  Chicago. 

CHICAGO 

Probably  the  correct  estimate  of  the  Greek  pop 
ulation  of  the  metropolis  of  the  West  is  20,000. 
The  numbers  vary  in  winter  and  summer  with  the 
coming  and  going  of  the  railroad  laborers.  Let 
us  quote  first  from  Canoutas'  "Greek-American 
Guide,"  (pp.  391-392),  translating  literally. 

"Before  1882  there  were  a  small  number  of  Greeks 
in  Chicago.  These  organized,  with  some  Slavs,  the 
'Hellene-Slavic  Brotherhood/  which  later  was  called 
the  'Good  Deed  Brotherhood/  and  invited  a  certain 
Greek  priest,  a  graduate  of  a  Russian  school,  to  cele 
brate  the  Divine  Liturgy.  After  1882  more  Greeks 
immigrated  to  Chicago,  and  by  1891,  when  their  num 
ber  had  reached  100,  they  organized  a  society  under 
the  name  of  'Therapnean  Society'  [afterwards  was 
called  'Lycurgos'l,  the  object  of  which  was  the  es- 
123 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

tablishment  of  a  Greek  church.  Through  the  effi 
cient  work  of  this  society  a  priest  was  asked  for  from 
Greece,  and  the  Rev.  P.  Phiampolis  came  and  re 
mained  there  till  1898,  when  he  went  to  Boston  as 
pastor  of  that  community.  After  this  there  were 
some  other  priests  appointed,  and  in  1894  were  sent 
the  reverent  and  learned  Archimandrites  Leon  Pegeas 
and  Ambrosios  Mandelares,  both  graduates  of  our  na 
tional  university.  The  first  church  building  of  their 
own  was  erected  in  1898  under  the  presidency  of  the 
k.  K.  Loumos,  'Holy  Trinity/  1101  Johnson  Street. 
Unhappily,  this  church  was  changed  from  a  house  of 
God  to  a  nucleus  of  strife,  wrangles,  and  legal  con 
tests,  lasting  for  almost  a  decade,  because  of  the  jeal 
ousy  of  different  parties  as  to  who  should  be  presi 
dent  and  vice-president  and  all  the  rest  of  it!  Thou 
sands  of  dollars  were  wasted  in  the  American  courts 
by  the  various  committees  on  matters  of  but  transi 
tory  importance;  often  the  police  were  called  in  to 
prevent  fighting  and  bloodshed  in  this  church  build 
ing  between  those  striving  for  the  first  places;  and 
frequently  the  American  press  published  articles  on 
the  subj  ect  that  were  not  at  all  complimentary.  Hap 
pily,  order  was  restored  at  last  in  this  great  Greek 
colony  by  the  establishment  of  two  more  churches, 
and  the  division  of  the  whole  colony  into  three  sec 
tions.  The  first  division  or  parish  attend  the  old 
church,  which  remains  under  the  pastorship  of  the 
Rev.  Leon  Pegeas.  The  second  division  or  parish, 
made  up  of  the  compatriots  living  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  city,  attend  the  newly  built  church  of  St. 
Constantine  (6100  Michigan  Avenue),  which  is  un 
der  the  pastorship  of  the  Rev.  Ambrosios  Mandelares. 
The  third  parish,  made  up  of  those  in  the  north  and 


IS 

s 

o 

be 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES      125 

northwest  part,  attend  the  stately  church  of  The  An 
nunciation,  also  newly  built  on  LaSalle  Avenue,  Nos. 
1017-1019,  which  is  under  a  third  pastor,  at  first  the 
Rev.  Const.  Nicoletopoulos,  now  the  Rev.  Charitos 
Panagopoulos." 

In  Chicago  there  are  some  twenty-odd  local  so 
cieties  and  a  branch  of  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union. 
This  city  has  the  largest  number  of  Greek  busi 
ness  concerns  of  any  city  in  America,  especially 
confectioners,  fruit  stores,  and  restaurants. 
There  are  ten  Greek  physicians,  two  dentists,  two 
pharmacies,  a  Greek  bank,  several  lawyers  and  two 
newspapers — a  bi-weekly  of  six  pages,  Athena, 
and  a  ten-page  weekly,  Star.  A  proportion  of 
the  Greeks  of  Chicago,  remarkably  large  consider 
ing  the  short  residence  of  the  majority,  have  be 
come  naturalized. 

For  the  rest  of  the  account  of  the  colony  in 
Chicago,  I  cannot  possibly  do  better  than  give, 
with  the  kind  permission  of  the  author,  an  abridg 
ment  of  "A  Study  of  the  Greeks  in  Chicago," 
which  appeared  in  the  American  Journal  of  So 
ciology  of  November,  1909,  by  Miss  Grace  Abbott, 
Director  of  the  League  for  the  Protection  of  Im 
migrants,  one  of  the  few  people  in  America  who 
have  an  accurate  and  sympathetic  knowledge  of 
the  Greek  immigrants.  It  has  also  been  pub 
lished  in  pamphlet  form  by  the  League  (Series 
1,  No.  8.) 

"Appreciating  that  its  immediate  neighborhood  was 


126  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

becoming  Hellenic,  an  investigation  of  the  Greeks  in 
Chicago  was  made  by  Hull  House  *  in  order  that  with 
reliable  information  about  their  housing  conditions, 
their  occupations,  their  family  life,  and  their  am 
bitions,  the  resources  of  the  House  could  be  made 
more  useful  to  its  new  neighbors.  For  this  purpose, 
in  a  preliminary  investigation  made  last  summer 
(1908),  350  Greek  residences  were  visited  and  1467 
Greeks  counted  on  the  schedules.  These  were  not 
confined  to  any  one  neighborhood,  but  were  represent 
ative  of  the  city's  entire  Greek  population,  the 
wealthier  as  well  as  the  poorer.  During  the  winter 
and  spring  a  Greek-speaking  woman  was  employed 
by  Hull  House  to  do  systematic  visiting  among  the 
Greek  families  of  its  neighborhood  and  among  the 
Greek  boys  of  the  downtown  district.  Upon  the  in 
formation  thus  secured  by  Hull  House  this  study  is 
almost  entirely  based. 

"The  largest  settlement  of  Chicago  Greeks  is  in 
the  nineteenth  ward,  north  and  west  of  Hull  House. 
Here  is  a  Greek  Orthodox  Church;  a  school  in  which 
children  are  taught  a  little  English,  some  Greek,  much 
of  the  achievements  of  Hellas  and  the  obligation  that 
rests  on  every  Greek  to  rescue  Macedonia  from  the 
Turks  and  the  Bulgarians;  here,  too,  is  the  combina 
tion  of  Greek  bank,  steamship  ticket  office,  notary 
public,  and  employment  agency;  and  the  coffee  houses, 
where  the  men  drink  black  coffee,  play  cards,  specu 
late  on  the  outcome  of  the  next  Greek  lottery,  and  in 
the  evening  sing  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  Greek 

i  Miss  Jane  Addams,  who  kindly  furnished  a  copy  of 
this  pamphlet  and  referred  me  to  its  author,  wrote  me, 
"A  number  of  Greeks  come  to  Hull  House,  where  they  have 
various  clubs  and  undertakings,  and  we  are  quite  devoted 
to  them." 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES 

bag-pipes  or — evidence  of  their  Americanization — lis 
ten  to  the  phonograph.  On  Halsted  Street,  south  of 
Harrison,  almost  every  store  for  two  blocks  has  Greek 
characters  on  the  windows;  and  recalling  one's  long 
forgotten  college  Greek,  one  learns  that  the  first  cof 
fee  house  is  the  'Cafe  Appollon,'  and  that  their  news 
paper,  The  Hellas,  is  published  next  door.  A  block 
west,  on  Blue  Island  Avenue  one  finds  the  'Parthenon 
Barber  Shop'  and  a  Greek  drug  store.  If  an  Amer 
ican  were  to  visit  this  neighborhood  on  the  night  of 
Good  Friday  when  the  stores  are  draped  with  purple 
and  black,  and  watch  at  midnight  the  solemn  proces 
sion  of  Greek  men  march  down  the  streets  carrying 
their  burning  candles  and  chanting  hymns,  he  would 
probably  feel  as  though  he  were  no  longer  in  Amer 
ica;  but  after  a  moment's  reflection  he  would  say  that 
this  could  be  no  place  but  America,  for  the  procession 
was  headed  by  eight  burly  Irish- American  policemen 
and  along  the  walks  were  'Americans'  of  Polish,  Ital 
ian,  Russian,  Jewish,  Lithuanian,  and  Puritan  an 
cestry  watching  with  mingled  reverence  and  curiosity 
this  celebration  of  Good  Friday;  while  those  who 
marched  were  homesick  and  mourning  because  'this 
was  not  like  the  Tripolis.' 

"Although  the  Greeks  have  scattered  much  more 
widely  over  the  entire  country  than  the  Italians  and 
most  other  immigrants,  still  they  are  little  known  or 
understood.  They  have  suffered  both  here  and  in 
Europe  from  extravagant  praise  or  unreasonable  criti 
cism.  Before  the  Civil  War,  in  the  days  when  the 
Native  American  or  Know  Nothing  Party  flourished, 
many  good  Americans  were  afraid  that  the  immigrants, 
who  then  came  principally  from  Germany  and  north 
ern  Europe,  were  going  to  destroy  our  institutions  and 


128  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

ideals,  and  there  was  organized  opposition  to  their 
admission.  Now  the  fear  is  that,  because  the  immi 
grants  are  coming  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe, 
those  prophecies  of  sixty  years  ago  are  about  to  be 
fulfilled.  The  average  American,  expecting  every 
Greek  to  have  the  beauty  of  an  Apollo  and  the  ability 
of  a  Pericles,  and  reading  only  sensational  newspaper 
accounts  of  some  crime  he  may  or  may  not  have  com 
mitted,  concludes  that  the  race  has  degenerated  and 
constitutes  a  most  undesirable  addition  to  our  popula 
tion.  This  is  manifestly  unfair.  The  Greek  immi 
grant  should  be  accepted  for  what  he  is  worth  in 
modern  society.  And  we  should  inquire  not  only  as 
to  his  moral  standards,  his  capacity  for  self-govern 
ment  and  his  economic  value,  but,  equally  important, 
whether  his  development  in  these  directions  is  being 
promoted  or  retarded  by  the  treatment  he  receives  in 
the  United  States. 

"The  only  way  of  measuring  the  morality  of  a  peo 
ple  is  by  the  very  low  test  of  their  criminality.  For 
this  the  only  statistics  available  are  the  records  of  the 
courts,  police  departments,  and  penal  institutions. 
These  need  most  careful  interpretation.  Classifica 
tions  are  usually  very  carelessly  made  and  do  not  dis 
tinguish  between  American  of  native  and  foreign 
parentage,  so  that  no  conclusions  can  be  drawn  as  to 
the  effect  which  residence  in  the  United  States  has 
upon  the  conduct  of  the  foreigner.  It  should  also  be 
remembered  that  the  immigrant's  offence  is  too  often 
only  his  ignorance  of  the  English  language,  which  to 
an  irritated  Irish  policeman  is  in  itself  a  crime.  Vio 
lations  of  city  ordinances  through  ignorance  of  sani 
tary  regulations,  of  the  requirement  of  a  license  for 
peddlers,  and  of  similar  regulations,  cause  more  ar- 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES      129 

rests  than  viciousness.  The  newly  arrived  foreigner 
must  speak  through  an  interpreter,  and  a  careless 
translation  often  gives  the  court  an  incorrect  idea  of 
what  has  been  said.  The  testimony  of  the  witnesses 
against  him,  and  occasionally  the  charge,  are  not  trans 
lated  to  him,  and  so  he  is  unable  to  appreciate  the  full 
bearing  of  the  questions  asked  him,  and  his  chances 
for  acquittal  are  fewer  than  the  American's.  The  re 
port  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  for 
1908  shows  that  15,323  aliens  were  detained  in  various 
penal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  United 
States.  Of  this  number  196  were  Greeks.  In  the 
north  central  group,  which  includes  Illinois  and  eleven 
other  states,  40  Greeks  and  2570  other  aliens  are  re 
ported  so  detained.  These  figures  undoubtedly  do  not 
give  the  number  of  alien  criminals  for  the  entire  year, 
but  they  seem  incredibly  small  even  for  any  one 
time  of  the  year,  when  it  is  remembered  that  they  in 
clude  alien  adult  and  juvenile  offenders  held  in  mu 
nicipal,  county,  state,  and  federal  institutions.  In 
Chicago  those  Greeks  who  go  out  to  work  on  the  rail 
roads  from  April  to  November  and  spend  four  or  five 
months  in  idleness  in  the  city,  although  not  counted  in 
the  official  census,  are  probably  the  ones  who  are  found 
most  frequently  in  the  municipal  courts,  charged  with 
disorderly  conduct.  The  fact  that  so  many  of  the 
Greeks  are  independent  peddlers  and  merchants  in 
stead  of  employees  in  some  large  factory  is  in  part 
some  explanation  of  their  difficulties.  Hotheaded  and 
independent,  they  are,  like  the  Irishman,  drawn  into 
disputes  which  often  end  in  serious  quarrels.  Un 
doubtedly  their  criminal  record  in  America  is  worse 
now  than  it  will  be  in  the  future.  The  Greek  is  one 
of  the  last  to  come  into  this  complex  population  of 


130  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

ours  and  the  colony  as  a  whole  is  still  ignorant  of  our 
language  and  customs.  The  young  men  and  boys 
have  been  coming  in  large  numbers  during  the  past 
eight  years,  and  women  are  following  as  the  men 
graduate  from  work  on  the  railroads  to  the  proprietor 
ship  of  a  fruit  stand  or  restaurant.  Still  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  Greeks  are  men  between  the  ages 
of  twenty  and  thirty — the  sex  and  age  of  the  greatest 
criminality  in  all  nationalities.  This  very  large  pro 
portion  of  men  makes  the  life  of  the  Greek  colony  en 
tirely  different  from  that  of  a  people  who  have  been 
coming  for  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  The  men 
who  are  here  alone  must  live  together  in  large  groups, 
without  the  restraining  influences  which  come  with 
normal  family  relationships.  Certainly  this  would 
account  for  much  of  the  immorality  with  which  Greek 
men  have  been  charged.  In  this  respect  they  are 
worse  than  at  home,  due  probably  to  the  demoralizing 
effect  which  living  in  a  city's  congested  district,  where 
invitations  to  vice  are  on  every  side  and  where  there 
is  no  counter  claim  or  attraction  of  a  home,  always  has 
on  men  or  women.  The  most  hopeful  sign  is  that 
the  Greeks  who  have  been  in  the  country  for  some 
time  are  coming  to  appreciate  this  and  are  trying  to 
make  their  fellow-countrymen  realize  the  danger  which 
the  situation  presents. 

"Considered  from  other  standpoints,  the  Greek  is 
a  most  desirable  immigrant.  With  the  political  train 
ing  he  has  had  at  home,  he  should  be  able  to  adapt 
himself  quickly  to  our  republican  institutions.  In 
dustrially  he  is  a  positive  asset  in  the  United  States. 

"Because  the  colony  is  so  largely  masculine,  large 
numbers  of  the  men  live  together,  keeping  house  on 
some  cooperative  arrangement,  and  form  what  may  be 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES      131 

called  'non-family  groups'  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  ordinary  'family  group'  in  which  the  wife  or 
daughter  does  the  housekeeping  for  the  family  and  a 
lodger  or  two.  Three-fourths,  at  least,  of  the  la 
borers  and  peddlers  belong  to  these  non-family  groups, 
while  probably  nearly  the  same  proportion  of  the 
owners  of  ice  cream  parlors  and  restaurant  keepers 
belong  to  the  family  groups.  This  shows  very  clearly 
how  the  system  works.  Like  other  foreigners,  most 
of  the  Greeks  must  first  serve  an  apprenticeship  in 
the  gangs  that  do  the  railroad  and  general  construc 
tion  work  for  the  country.  But  their  apprenticeship 
is  shorter  than  with  most  nationalities.  A  labor  agent, 
who  supplies  two  or  three  thousand  foreigners  a  sea 
son  for  this  sort  of  work,  says  that  the  Greek  seldom 
'ships  out'  more  than  once  or  twice.  In  that  time  he 
has  learned  some  English  and  has  accumulated  enough 
money  to  venture  on  a  small  commercial  enterprise 
for  himself.  He  becomes  a  peddler,  perhaps  later 
owns  a  fruit  stand  and  finally  an  ice  cream  parlor. 
By  this  time  he  is  ready  to  send  for  his  wife  and  chil 
dren,  or  some  Greek  woman  who  becomes  his  wife, 
and  they  are  able  to  live  comfortably  and  happily. 
During  the  .short  time  he  has  been  in  Chicago  the 
Greek  has  established  his  reputation  as  a  shrewd  busi 
ness  man.  On  Halsted  Street  they  are  already  say 
ing,  'It  takes  a  Greek  to  beat  a  Jew.'  Historically 
there  is,  of  course,  some  reason  for  this.  Mahaffy, 
an  authority  on  ancient  as  well  as  modern  Greece, 
says  of  the  Greeks:  'They  are  probably  as  clever  a 
people  as  can  be  found  in  the  world,  and  fit  for  any 
mental  work  whatever.  This  they  have  proved,  not  only 
by  getting  into  their  hands  all  the  trade  of  the  east 
ern  Mediterranean,  but  by  holding  their  own  perfectly 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

among  English  merchants  in  England.'  2  That  they 
will  become  great  business  and  professional  men  in 
the  United  States  there  can  be  little  doubt.  They 
come,,  willing  to  do  any  kind  of  hard  physical  work, 
but  thriftily  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  for 
advancement. 

"The  testimony  of  those  experienced  in  teaching 
immigrants  is  always  favorable  to  the  Greeks.  The 
teacher  of  the  'adult  room'  of  the  Jones  School,  which 
is  just  outside  the  loop  in  the  downtown  district,  had 
81  Greeks  enrolled  in  1908-09  out  of  a  total  of  252. 
She  said  of  all  the  different  nationalities  represented 
in  the  room  'I  think  I  have  found  the  Greeks  the 
brightest  and  quickest  to  learn.'  At  Hull  House  they 
have  been  eager  and  intelligent  members  of  the  regu 
lar  classes  and  the  men  have  shown  ability  in  the  or 
ganization  and  management  of  large  clubs  and  classes 
for  themselves. 

"The  patriotism  of  the  Greek  is  one  of  his  most 
prominent  characteristics  and  takes  very  often  the  ex 
ceedingly  boastful  form  usually  credited  to  'Yankees' 
in  English  novels.  They  are  always  ready  to  tell  you 
of  the  superiority  of  the  Greek  soldier  over  any  other, 
and  the  men  who  have  been  to  college  in  Greece  speak 
of  American  schools  and  American  scholarship  with 
almost  German  contempt.  A  small  Greek  boy  was 
sure  that  he  won  the  affection  of  his  Irish  school 
teacher  by  showing  her  pictures  of  'the  Athens.'  Most 
of  them  feel  it  their  duty  to  spread  the  fame  of  their 
noble  race  wherever  possible.  Approving  of  Hull 
House,  they  succeeded  in  convincing  the  Bulgarians, 
for  the  time  at  least,  that  it  was  intended  for  the 
Greeks  alone,  and  the  first  Greek  boy  who  went 
2  "Rambles  and  Studies  in  Greece,"  p.  23. 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES       133 

through  the  juvenile  court  felt  that  he  had  added  to 
the  glory  of  the  Greek  name  and  dignified  that  worthy 
American  institution  as  well.  While  somewhat  ex 
asperating  at  times,  this  enthusiastic  devotion  to  their 
mother  country  is  after  all  a  most  desirable  character 
istic  and  one  which  the  Anglo-American  should  readily 
appreciate. 

"Considering  their  Eastern  training  and  traditions 
of  almost  Oriental  seclusion,  the  Greek  women  adapt 
themselves  very  quickly  to  American  customs.  A 
Greek  Women's  Club  has  been  meeting  at  Hull  House 
once  a  week  and  a  Greek  Women's  Philanthropic  So 
ciety  has  been  formed  there  by  the  more  prosperous, 
who  expect  to  help  in  various  ways  the  unfortunate 
members  of  their  colony.  This  charitable  organiza 
tion  is  eagerly  encouraged  by  the  men,  for  the  Greeks, 
although  extremely  shrewd  in  their  business  dealings, 
are  at  the  same  time  generous.  They  give  liberally 
to  one  another  in  times  of  sickness  or  unemployment. 
On  Tag  Day  for  the  children's  charities  of  the  city 
the  women  reaped  a  good  profit  in  the  Greek  stores 
and  coffee  houses  on  Halsted  Street.  When  three 
small  Greek  children  were  left  without  homes,  it  was 
not  difficult  to  find  Greek  families  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Hull  House  who  were  willing  to  receive  and  care 
for  them  temporarily  or  indefinitely. 

"Unlike  the  Italian  women,  they  do  not  work  out 
side  their  own  homes  or  at  sweatshop  work.  Out  of 
246  Greek  women  and  girls  over  fifteen  who  were 
visited  in  the  investigation,  only  5  were  found  to  be  at 
work.  This  is  not  alone  because  the  Greek  man  usu 
ally  succeeds  in  business,  but  because  he  considers  it 
a  disgrace  for  his  wife  or  his  sister  to  work,  and  the 
entire  family  often  suffers  that  this  tradition  that  'the 


134  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

women  must  not  work'  may  be  upheld.  An  example 
of  this  came  to  the  attention  of  the  League  for  the 
Protection  of  Immigrants  this  spring.  A  Greek  man 
about  twenty-five  years  old  sent  his  brother-in-law, 
who  was  ill  with  tuberculosis,,  back  to  Athens.  His 
sister  and  her  two  children,  both  old  enough  to  attend 
school,  were  left  in  Chicago.  The  sister  was  able  to 
work,  but  this  her  brother  would  not  consider.  Al 
though  he  had  a  very  small  income,  he  rented  a  flat  for 
her,  paid  her  bills,  and  finally  with  some  help  from 
his  friends  purchased  tickets  for  her  and  the  children 
to  go  back  home.  The  woman  was  not  a  very  good 
mother  or  sister,  and  the  man  had  little  affection  for 
her,  but  he  knew  that  he  would  have  been  disgraced 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Greek  colony  if  the  'sacred  tradi 
tion/  as  Professor  Andreades  of  the  University  of 
Athens  calls  it,  had  not  been  upheld.  The  women  are 
good  housekeepers.  The  Greek  houses  are  almost 
uniformly  clean  and  comfortable,  and  the  women  and 
children  neatly  dressed.  Even  in  non-family  groups 
the  houses  are  often  well  kept  and  the  food  well  pre 
pared  by  the  men  themselves. 

"The  non-family  group  living  above  barns  and  feed 
stores  were  the  only  ones  found  in  dangerously  un 
sanitary  conditions.  The  men  who  live  in  this  way 
are  usually  peddlers  who  keep  their  horses  in  the 
barns.  Over  one  such  barn  there  were  fifteen  ped 
dlers.  They  were  all  unmarried,  between  20  and  30 
years  old.  They  earned  on  an  average  $10  a  week 
and  paid  $30  a  month  rent  for  the  barn  and  the  rooms 
above  it.  The  rooms  were  unfurnished  and  dirty. 
The  men  slept  on  mattresses  on  the  floor.  This  was 
often  the  condition  in  which  groups  of  peddlers  were 
found,  but  there  were  some  exceptions.  In  one  group 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES      135 

twenty-two  men  lived  together.  They  had  rented  five 
of  the  six  apartments  in  the  flat  building.  Ten  of 
these  men  were  laborers  who  worked  for  the  Rock 
Island  and  received  from  $10  to  $12  per  week,  and 
eleven  were  peddlers  who  estimated  their  weekly 
profits  at  $9.  Each  one  of  the  men  paid  $4  a  week, 
which  went  toward  the  payment  of  rent,  food,  and  the 
wages  of  the  man  who  was  cook  and  general  caretaker 
of  the  group.  With  one  exception  all  of  these  men 
were  under  thirty,  and  they  were  all  unmarried.  The 
flats  were  kept  clean  and  the  men  lived  comfortably. 
Often  the  owner  of  a  restaurant,  a  fruit  store,  or  a 
shoe  shine  parlor  furnished  his  employees  board  and 
room.  For  example,  the  owner  of  a  restaurant  had 
a  nine-room  flat  where  eight  waiters,  who  worked  for 
him  and  were  paid  from  $6  to  $10  a  week,  lived  with 
him.  The  house  was  comfortably  furnished  and  clean. 
All  the  men  were  unmarried  and  between  twenty  and 
thirty  years  of  age.  In  another  group  were  five  la 
borers  who  paid  $12  a  month  for  a  four-room  rear 
house.  These  young  men  came  from  Tripolis.  One 
of  them  had  been  here  three  years  and  was  able  to 
read  and  write  English.  The  other  four  were  attend 
ing  night  school.  The  house  was  clean  and  gave  the 
general  impression  of  thrift  and  industry. 

"In  the  non-family  groups  the  Greek  boy  presents 
a  special  problem.  The  boys  often  come  with  some 
neighbor  who  passes  as  their  uncle  or  father  and  are 
apprenticed  to  one  of  their  fellow-countrymen.  They 
work  as  bootblacks,  help  around  fruit  stands,  or  ped 
dle  fruit  and  vegetables.  That  many  of  these  boys 
are  worked  under  a  system  of  peonage  there  can  be 
little  doubt.  Some  evidence  of  the  existence  of  this 
and  a  few  cases  where  boys  have  suffered  gross  phys- 


136  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

ical  abuse  from  the  older  men  with  whom  they  lived 
have  come  to  the  attention  of  the  League  during  the 
past  year.  And  in  addition  to  these  very  ugly  possi 
bilities  an  investigation  of  the  shoe  shine  parlors  in 
the  Loop  District  of  Chicago  showed  the  danger  of 
their  general  mode  of  life.  The  ages  of  these  boot 
blacks  range  from  13  to  36,  the  majority  being  17. 
Their  hours  of  work  are  extremely  long.  In  addition 
to  their  board  and  clothes,  the  usual  wages  paid  those 
boys  is  from  $15  to  $20  a  month.  An  employer  who 
has  a  large  establishment  or  several  small  ones,  as 
many  of  them  do,  has  to  provide  housing  facilities  for 
a  number  of  boys.  One  man,  for  example,  has  eleven 
rooms — two  floors  and  the  basement — for  twenty-five 
boys.  The  rooms  are  clean  and  neatly  furnished  and 
the  food  abundant.  Another  has  eleven  rooms  for 
twenty  boys,  with  an  old  Greek  man  in  charge  as  cook. 
This  place  is  not  clean.  There  is  no  furniture  ex 
cept  beds,  and  a  long  table  in  an  inside  room  which 
serves  as  a  dining  room.  Here  the  boys  were  found 
one  night  between  half-past  nine  and  ten  o'clock. 
They  had  just  returned  from  work  and  were  eating 
their  supper  of  soup  and  stewed  corn.  The  danger 
of  this  life  can  be  readily  understood.  The  boys 
spend  nearly  all  their  waking  hours  at  work.  They 
live,  as  many  of  the  poor  must,  near  immoral  neigh 
borhoods  and  are  easily  accessible  to  men  and  women 
who  wish  to  accomplish  their  ruin.  They  have  no  time 
for  regular  attendance  at  evening  classes  or  clubs,  no 
normal  home  life  or  relationship.  But  for  the  disci 
pline  of  the  bosses,  who  want  them  to  be  ready  for 
work  next  day,  an  even  larger  number  would  find  ex 
citement  and  relaxation  in  dangerous  amusements. 
Hard  as  the  lot  of  these  boys  is,  it  is  better  than  that 


LIFE  IN  THE  GREAT  CITIES       137 

of  an  apprentice  in  Greece.  This  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  the  parents  of  the  boys  as  well  as  the  boys 
themselves  are  satisfied  with  the  terms  on  which  they 
work,  and  consider  deportation  a  great  hardship. 
They  work  for  long  hours  cheerfully,  confident  that  in 
a  short  time  they  will  be  in  a  position,  not  to  work 
fewer  hours,  but  to  set  up  as  independent  business  men 
for  themselves. 

"The  Greeks,  then,  upon  acquaintance  prove  to  be 
bright,  industrious,  and  capable  men  and  women. 
Better  than  some,  and  not  so  well  as  others,  they  are 
meeting  the  dangerous  temptations  which  come  with 
long  hours  and  unwholesome  living  conditions.  What 
they  become  as  a  result  of  their  American  environment 
should  be  an  American  responsibility.  The  best  way 
to  help  them  and  the  city  is  not  by  the  general  con 
demnation  which  is  too  often  meted  out  to  'the  stranger 
within  our  gates/  but  by  recognizing  their  ability,  in 
dustry,  and  capacity  for  good  citizenship  and  uniting 
with  them  to  suppress  the  vice  and  exploitations  from 
which  they  suffer." 

This  picture  of  the  Greek  colony  in  Chicago 
will  apply  in  most  of  its  general  characteristics 
and  many  of  its  details  to  New  York,  where  are 
settled  about  the  same  number  of  compatriots, 
though  they  are  not  quite  so  concentrated  in  par 
ticular  sections  of  the  city.  Such  general  condi 
tions  are  also  the  same  in  the  much  smaller  com 
munities  of  Philadelphia,  in  Boston,  and  in  San 
Francisco.  In  the  latter  city  there  were  about 
1000  Greeks  before  the  earthquake.  After  this 
catastrophe,  which  destroyed  their  first  church, 
many  more  poured  in. 


IX 

IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS 

LOWELL 

Ramshackle  Market  Street,  Lowell,  lined  with 
paintless  low  blocks  in  various  stages  of  repair, 
with  the  gilded  domes  of  the  beautiful  Byzantine 
church  off  one  side  of  the  middle  and  the  factory 
chimneys  towering  at  the  far  end — this  is  the  home 
of  the  largest  colony  of  Greeks  in  the  United 
States,  outside  of  New  York  and  Chicago.  It  is 
a  single  Eastern  Orthodox  parish  of  8000  com 
municants.  It  is  a  Greek  colony  segregated  by 
itself  in  close  quarters,  where  every  shop  and 
coffee  house  along  the  street  displays  Greek  signs, 
and  Greek  meets  Greek  except  for  Irish  policeman 
and  capitalist  landlord.  This  account  of  Lowell 
will  serve  as  an  illustration  typical  in  many  of  its 
details  of  the  communities  of  Greeks  in  most  of 
our  mill  towns,  especially  in  New  England.  Let 
us  keep  in  mind  throughout  that  the  mill  hands 
are,  next  to  the  railroad  laborers,  the  lowest  class 
of  Greeks  in  America — lowest,  I  mean,  in  environ 
ment  and  opportunity  for  advancement. 

The  first  Greek  immigrants  to  Lowell  came  in 
1891.  At  that  time  practically  all  Greeks  in  the 
country  were  peddlers ;  there  was  probably  not 

one  working  in  a  mill.     It  was  the  period  of  the 

138 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  139 

financial  panic,  1892,  that  marks  the  date  of  the 
beginning  of  the  Greek  factory  workers.  De 
pression  came  for  the  Greek  peddling  business; 
two  or  three  peddlers  in  distress  got  a  chance  in 
the  mills  of  Lowell;  they  wrote  to  their  friends; 
and  so  it  was  started.  The  little  colony  began 
by  working  at  the  lowest  kind  of  mill  jobs  at  $3 
or  $4  a  week,  as  sweepers  or  doing  the  heavy  work 
in  the  dye  house,  the  picker  room,  etc.  After  a 
year  some  had  learned  a  little  English.  The 
overseers  saw  that  the  Greeks  were  steady  and 
sober  and  kept  their  jobs.  So  they  asked  them 
if  they  knew  of  any  other  Greeks.  By  1894  there 
were  some  125  working  in  the  Lawrence  and  also 
the  Suffolk  Mills  of  the  city.  As  the  Greeks  be 
gan  to  flock  into  Lowell  it  often  happened  that 
one  employed  was  obliged  to  support  three  or  four 
unemployed.  At  first  they  could  find  no  lodging 
rooms.  Sometimes  they  were  obliged  to  sleep  on 
the  roofs  of  tenements,  without  the  proprietor 
knowing  it.  In  1894  the  mills  closed  down  all 
summer — the  poor  Greeks  would  go  out  into  the 
country  and  fill  their  pockets  with  apples,  which 
with  bread  was  their  only  fare. 

After  that  summer  of  1894  work  was  good  and 
the  colony  increased  rapidly.  At  that  time  were 
established  the  first  coffee  house,  a  Greek  grocery, 
and  a  bakery.  Many  were  earning  $6,  $7,  $8  a 
week  then,  and  so  they  began  to  send  money  to 
their  needy  friends  in  Chicago  and  New  York  to 
come;  and  money  went  home  to  the  families  in 


140  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Greece  with  the  usual  effect.  Up  to  this  time  a 
sort  of  padrone  system  had  been  in  vogue  in  one 
or  two  of  the  mills.  For  example,  some  Greek 
who  had  learned  English  would  be  paid  $10  by  an 
overseer  to  furnish  a  man  for  a  job,  and  then  the 
Greek  would  find  the  man  and  charge  him  $25. 
The  Greek  immigrants  were  too  scared  to  report 
such  exploitation.  When  the  k.  Michel  latros, 
a  Greek  of  refinement  and  education  who  after 
wards  taught  in  Lowell  schools  and  was  appointed 
vice-consul  for  Lowell,  first  went  there,  the  Greeks 
told  him  of  this,  and  he  reported  it  at  once  to 
Mr.  Nourse,  the  mill  agent.  The  latter  called 
up  the  overseer  the  next  day  and  discharged  him 
and  so  the  gang  was  broken  up.  At  this  time 
there  was  only  one  woman  and  two  young  daugh 
ters  in  the  colony.  By  1895  there  were  some  300 
in  the  colony. 

Let  us  pause  a  moment  in  the  march  of  our  his 
tory  and  discuss  the  rise  and  conduct  of  the  inter 
racial  war  of  this  period,  and  how  the  Hellene 
won.  Like  the  Balkan  peninsular  and  various 
other  sections  of  Europe  and  Asia,  Lowell,  Massa 
chusetts,  is  the  heterogeneous  product  of  a  series 
of  migrations.  In  1822  some  Americans  of  pure 
New  England  stock  founded  Lowell,  and  for  years 
was  protracted  the  peaceful  Puritan  regime.  At 
last  came  the  barbarian  invasion  known  as  the 
Irish ;  they  grasped  the  reigns  of  power  and  have 
held  them  ever  since.  In  due  time  the  dark-haired 
horde  of  the  north  swept  over  the  land,  and  the 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  141 

French  Canadian  underbid  the  just  wages  of  la 
bor.  At  the  present  time  the  100,000  of  Lowell 
are  made  up,  two-fifths  Irish  and  English,  one- 
fifth  French  Canadians,  8000  Greeks,  several  thou 
sand  each  of  Poles,  Swedes,  Portuguese,  and  Jews, 
and  also  a  goodly  smattering  of  Syrians,  Armeni 
ans,  Norwegians,  Slavs  from  Austria-Hungary, 
etc.,  etc. — at  least  40  nationalities.  It  is  stated 
that  there  are  in  Lowell  also  a  few  Americans. 
Back  in  those  early  '90's  the  sons  of  Hellas  began 
the  third  important  migration.  Their  coming 
made  the  Irish  and  the  French,  who  had  held 
down  the  mill  jobs  heretofore,  mad.  The  Greeks 
proved  themselves  the  steadier  workmen.  From 
time  immemorial  Monday  and  often  Tuesday  had 
been  held  sacred  as  the  drunk  days,  when  an  habit 
ual  Hibernian  or  Franco  "hang-over"  retarded 
the  mill  machinery.  The  Greeks  were  free  from 
drink  and  were  good  for  work  all  the  wreek,  and 
the  overseers  naturally  favored  them  because  of 
that.  This  made  the  French  and  the  Irish  mad 
der.  From  the  very  beginning  these  two  dominant 
races  attacked  and  ill-used  the  new  Greek  laborers 
and  hounded  them  from  good  lodgings.  Their  at 
tacks  grew  as  the  Greek  colony  grew.  At  night, 
when  the  mills  poured  out  their  operatives,  the 
poor,  scared  Greeks  would  gather  twenty  or  so 
together,  take  the  middle  of  the  street  and  in 
close  formation  rush  to  Market  Street,  where 
they  scattered  to  their  lodgings  like  frightened 
sparrows  and  dared  not  stir  out  till  morning. 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

But  one  day  when  a  Grecian  youngster  was  at 
tacked,  he  thrust  a  jackknife  into  a  Frenchman 
(ordinary  pocket  knife,  Greeks  rarely  carry  "con 
cealed  weapons,"  reports  to  the  contrary  notwith 
standing).  This  Greek  was  not  arrested,  and 
his  stand  had  a  most  salutary  effect.  From  that 
moment  all  a  Greek  had  to  do  was  to  put  his  hand 
to  his  back  pocket — "He  has  a  knife !  a  knife !" 
(I  imagine  it  was  pronounced  "knoife"  or  "cou- 
teau.")  The  sons  of  Greece  were  attacked  no 
longer,  and  persecution  became  only  indirect. 
One  of  the  traditions  of  the  community  is  that  one 
night  in  Lowell  nine  stalwart  Spartans  armed 
with  clubs  put  to  flight  an  army  of  several  hun 
dred  French.  The  descendants  of  Pausanias  had 
routed  the  host  of  latter  day  barbarians. 

The  increasing  colony  was  obliged  to  segregate 
itself  in  Market  Street  because  all  other  sections 
of  the  city  refused  them  access.  So  there  they 
settled  in  the  tumble-down  tenements,  whither  the 
owners  attracted  them,  with  the  usual  care  of  rich 
landed  proprietors  for  the  comfort  and  sanitary 
weal  of  helpless  tenants,  by  patching  up — like 
the  patching  of  powder  and  rouge — sans  decency 
and  sans  repair. 

In  1895  a  society  was  formed  of  which  the  k. 
latros  was  president,  w^hich  called  the  first  Greek 
priest,  discharged  at  that  time  from  the  New 
York  community,  Kallinikos  Delveis.  A  hired 
hall  was  used  for  the  church. 

In   1897   came  the  tidings   from  home   of  war 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  143 

with  Turkey.  A  young  Greek  (who,  by  the  way, 
now  owns  a  fine  candy  store  in  Lynn  and  is  a 
student  in  the  Boston  University  Law  School) 
formed  a  company,  and  some  200  or  300  went  to 
Greece.  The  war  was  short  and  they  soon  came 
back  bringing  with  them  a  large  number  of  their 
fellow  countrymen.  Through  them  the  name  of 
Lowell  became  in  the  Peloponnesus  almost  as  well 
known  as  that  of  Athens.  This  brought  the  col 
ony  up  to  the  1000  mark.  Next  year  began 
an  influx  of  Thessalians,  Epirotes,  and  Macedon 
ians,  and  the  stream  of  immigration  became  a 
river. 

For  the  next  three  years  ensued  the  character 
istic  community  wrangles,  carried  sometimes  to 
tfhe  courts,  over  church  offices  and  community 
mismanagement,  only  perhaps,  it  was  a  little  more 
wranglesome  than  usual.  At  last,  in  1901,  when 
the  colony  had  reached  3000,  a  building  was 
bought  on  Lewis  Avenue,  along  which  runs  one  of 
the  mill  raceways,  and  the  basement  fixed  up  for  a 
church. 

In  1904  the  committee  tore  down  this  building 
and  began  the  present  edifice,  the  finest  Greek 
Church  in  America  (except,  perhaps,  the  new  Chi 
cago  one),  costing  nearly  $80,000.  Directly 
across  the  canal  stands  a  beautiful  Roman  Catho 
lic  Church.  Here  truly  meet  East  and  West,  two 
excellent  examples  of  the  Byzantine  and  Gothic 
fronting  each  other,  the  gilded  domes  and  slender 
spires  rising  out  of  the  midst  of  tumble-down  ten- 


144  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

ements,  with  an  American  factory  raceway  rushing 
between. 

Now  why  did  these  poor  immigrants  erect  such 
an  elaborate  structure  at  such  tremendous  cost? 
At  the  time  the  Greek  physicians  of  Lowell  thought 
it  foolish  and  well  nigh  impossible.  But  the  pres 
ident,  the  k.  Gouzoules,  and  the  administrative 
council  had  method  in  their  madness.  If,  they 
argued,  we  build  a  truly  magnificent  church,  this 
will  preclude  factional  division.  If  we  build  a 
cheap  imperfect  affair  like  the  Boston  one,  for 
instance,  then  when  the  inevitable  quarrels  arise, 
no  faction  can  split  off  and  persuade  the  people 
to  go  worship  in  a  hired  hall,  nor  can  they  build 
a  second  church  like  this.  And  so,  unlike  New 
York,  Boston,  and  Chicago,  since  that  time — - 
though  there  must  have  been  factional  wrangling 
— a  split  has  been  impossible.  Moreover  it  has 
proven  a  financial  success.  Before  the  erection 
of  the  church,  the  community  funds  were  running 
behind;  since  then  all  have  been  enthusiastic  over 
their  church  and  the  current  expense  bills  have 
been  paid  with  a  good  annual  balance.  The 
$80000  for  the  building  and  furnishing  the  church 
was  collected  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  entirely 
from  the  members  of  the  Greek  colony,  except  a 
hundred  or  so  dollars  from  a  few  American  mer 
chants.  Within  a  year  and  a  half  they  raised 
$30000.  One  Holy  Week  it  was  put  up  to  a 
meeting  of  the  whole  community  whether  they 
should  gild  the  domes  or  no,  cost  $3000.  Straight- 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  145 

way  they  contributed  this  whole  amount  at  this 
Good  Friday  night  service.  Some  $20000  still 
remains  on  the  mortgage,  which  is  decreased  each 
year  by  $2000  or  $3000  from  the  ordinary  in 
come.  The  times  are  not  as  good  now  as  they 
were  for  textile  manufactory  laborers,  and  so 
there  is  no  effort  made  to  raise  the  balance  by 
extraordinary  measures.  Nevertheless,  at  any 
time,  should  occasion  arise,  this  would  be  an  easy 
matter  for  the  entire  balance  would  be  less  than 
one  week's  wages  of  the  whole  community  of 
8000. 

The  k.  George  Gouzoules,  who  runs  a  ticket — 
etc. — agency  and  also  a  model  saloon,  and  who 
for  the  past  twelve  years,  till  1912,  has  been  pres 
ident  of  the  community  is  the  man  who  organized 
the  present  community  and  engineered  the  nerve- 
racking  task  of  building  the  church.  The  priest 
at  that  time  was  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Lazares,  who 
is  now  pastor  of  the  split-off  community  in  New 
York.  A  young  architect  of  Lowell,  Henry  L. 
Rourke  worked  out  the  designs  from  Byzantine 
models,  and  the  excellent  mural  and  also  the  eikon 
painting  was  done  by  a  German  artist,  who  took 
fifteen  months  for  its  execution.  The  massive 
mahogany  episcopal  throne  cost  $1000,  and  the 
other  complete  interior  furnishings  are  on  a  like 
scale.  The  basement  of  the  church  is  fitted  out 
for  the  Greek  school.  The  church  was  completed 
in  1908. 

Several  years  ago  the  size  of  the  community  of 


146  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Lowell  had  reached  10000.  At  present  there  are 
about  8000.  One  or  two  thousand  of  these  are 
women  half  of  whom  are  unmarried,  between  the 
ages  of  15  and  £1.  Then  there  are  several  hun 
dred  little  children.  Times  have  become  harder 
and  so  there  is  going  on  an  exodus  of  Greeks  to 
the  West,  where  they  find  work  either  in  the  vine 
yards  of  California  or  on  the  railroad  lines.  May 
this  exodus  increase,  for  there  are  in  Lowell  far 
too  many  Greeks  for  their  own  good,  concentrated 
for  the  most  part  more  than  in  any  other  city  of 
the  New  World,  in  one  small  section  of  the  city. 

Here  is  an  approximately  complete  list  of  the 
various  professional  men,  shops,  etc.,  which  minis 
ter  to  the  wants  and  wishes  of  this  great  colony. 
For  the  spiritual  wants  and  wishes  there  is  but 
one  priest  at  present,  the  Rev.  Constas  Chatzed- 
emetriou — you  cannot  expect  a  pastor  with  8000 
in  his  flock  to  be  much  more  than  a  machine.  He 
lives  with  his  wife  and  children  in  a  rectory  and 
accrues  an  income  from  salary  and  endless  fees  of 
about  $5000  a  year.  There  are  3  Greek  phy 
sicians — there  used  to  be  6 — and  there  is  1  dentist 
and  £  drug  stores.  £  newspapers,  Patris  and 
Anagenesis,  %  printing  offices,  3  ticket  agencies, 
£  photographers,  1  importing  house,  %  cigarette 
manufactories,  several  dry  goods  stores,  tailor 
shops,  and  shoemakers,  4  restaurants,  some  30 
groceries,  and  a  wholesale  meat-dealer,  6  bakeries, 
25  or  30  coffee  houses,  1  model  saloon  (for  the 
other  races  as  well  as  the  temperate  Greek,  though 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  147 

no  drinks  are  sold  to  a  drunken  man),  about  10 
confectioners  and  fruit  stores,  some  fine  ones  for 
non-Greek  trade,  a  number  of  barbers,  and  a 
number  of  shoe  shine  parlors.  Most  of  these, 
except  the  concerns  established  for  American 
trade,  are  huddled  into  the  Market  Street  section. 
It  is  interesting  to  go  into  a  dry  goods  store 
and  find  all  the  signs  and  price  marks  in  Greek. 
There  are  several  farms,  each  owned  jointly  by 
four  or  five  Greeks,  and  there  are  a  number  of 
farm  laborers.  Of  course  the  great  bulk  of  the 
colony  work  in  the  mills  at  various  grades  of  un 
skilled  and  skilled  labor.  The  Greeks  are  well 
spoken  of  by  the  mill  agents  and  overseers,  and 
also  by  their  landlords.  The  city  authorities 
consider  them  the  most  peaceable  of  all  the  for 
eigners. 

Now  about  the  housing  conditions.  They  are 
as  good  as  those  provided  for  other  immigrants, 
or  rather  as  bad.  Anyone  who  is  familiar  with 
the  wretched  tenements  of  our  textile  manufac 
turing  cities  knows  what  this  is,  and  ought  to 
know  where  the  blame  lies.  "Alas !"  cry  the  clean 
and  comfortable  well-to-do  of  "charitable"  turn 
of  mind,  "what  horrible  conditions;  hotbeds  of 
disease,  total  disregard  of  the  laws  of  sanitation, 
pig  pens,  etc." — and  perhaps  some  of  these  good 
pitying  souls  own  the  tenement  houses !  and 
doubtless  "scientific"  investigations  are  made,  and 
they  try  to  teach  the  poor  pigs  how  to  live.  Yet 
is  the  fault  with  the  latter  animals?  True  some 


148  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Greeks,  like  other  people,  are  doubtless  born  pigs 
and  will  remain  so;  but  the  majority,  if  pigs  at 
all,  are  so  owing  to  the  conditions  under  which 
they  are  forced  to  live,  and  if  they  were  given  half 
a  chance  and  these  conditions  were  removed,  they 
would  not  be  so.  The  trouble  really  is  that  the 
landlords  are  Hogs.  How  can  one  fight  tuber 
culosis  when  "tfie  walls  and  floors  have  been  satu 
rated  with  bacteria  for  fifty  years?  How  can  the 
tenants  observe  sanitary  conditions  when  there 
are  no  water  closets  ?  It  is  easy  to  talk  of  cleanli 
ness  of  apartments  when  you  have  your  own  cook 
and  chambermaid  and  plumber,  but  when  a  man 
is  his  own  cook  and  chambermaid  and  breadwinner 
too,  what  time  has  he  for  the  niceties  of  house 
keeping?  A  man  earning  $6  a  week  cannot  pay 
much  for  rent;  besides,  Greeks  would  not  be  ac 
cepted  in  the  regular  lodging  houses.  They  had 
to  hire  their  tenement  and  furnish  it  with  the 
barest  necessities — dishes,  tables,  beds,  chairs,  and 
cook  stove.  Where  there  is  a  woman,  they  keep 
clean;  but  with  the  majority  there  is  no  woman, 
and  the  men  have  to  work  all  day.  Where  men 
have  to  pay  $10  or  $12  a  week  and  support  their 
families  in  Greece  too,  they  must  of  necessity  club 
together  as  many  as  possible.  Of  course  they  do 
not  herd  from  choice.  After  a  long  day's  heavy 
work  (in  those  cases  where  they  do  not  have  one  of 
their  number  stay  out  to  do  the  cooking)  they  rush 
to  a  grocery,  buy  a  bit  of  rice,  potatoes,  etc.,  go 
"home,"  light  the  stove,  and  try  to  cook.  It  is 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  149 

eight  o'clock,  perhaps,  before  supper  is  over,  and 
then  their  tired  bodies  must  drop  into  bed.  And 
the  poor  food  that  they  eat? —  But  that  is  no 
privation;  it  is  as  good  as  they  were  used  to  at 
home.  To  be  sure  they  might,  nay  ought,  to  keep 
their  windows  open  at  night.  But  with  no  stoves 
for  heating — they  often  cannot  afford  that  luxury 
— and  in  the  bitter  winter  cold  of  New  Eng 
land,  what  can  you  expect  of  a  man  brought 
up  in  sunny  Peloponnesus,  where  snow  is  un 
known  ? 

Yes,  conditions  sanitary  and  otherwise  are  bad 
in  those  ramshackle,  germ-steeped  tenements  of 
Market  Street.  Burn  them  down,  O  American 
millionaire,  and  erect  something  in  keeping  with 
our  vaunted  American  freedom  and  advanced  civi 
lization.  One  property  owner  by  expending  a 
very  little  money  could  do  more  than  a  thousand 
Greeks  to  remedy  such  conditions.  And  the  like, 
except  in  those  rare  instances  where  the  factory 
corporations  themselves  display  traces  of  human 
ity,  is  the  trouble  in  nearly  all  our  factory  towns ; 
and  the  city  governments  are  bought  up  and  the 
health  boards  are  afraid  to  enforce.  But  then, 
in  the  case  of  the  Greeks,  they,  having  been  in 
ured  by  centuries  of  slavery  under  the  Turk,  stand 
it  better  than  many  other  nationalities,  and  being 
more  enterprising  than  the  rest,  they  quickly 
better  their  lot.  My  point  here  is  that  we  ought 
to  stop  blaming  these  foreigners  for  what  is  not 
their  fault.  In  other  parts  of  the  country,  where 


150  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

the  Greeks  are  not  so  herded  together,  they  live 
under  very  different  housing  conditions. 

However,  the  wretched  state  of  affairs  we  have 
been  dilating  upon,  is  not  applicable  to  all  the 
Greeks  in  Lowell  by  any  means.  Many  of  those 
who  have  been  there  some  length  of  time  own  their 
homes,  and  are  able  to  live  like  other  people. 
Some  few  have  bought  neat  houses  in  the  suburbs. 
Then,  too,  there  are  over  a  thousand  families  in 
Lowell,  and  new  families  are  being  formed  as  fast 
as  possible.  As  soon  as  the  many  Greek  girls  in 
Lowell  reach  the  age  of  18  or  19  they  are  married, 
at  the  rate  of  several  every  week.  The  Greek 
housewife  keeps  the  house  clean ;  their  rooms  com 
pare  very  favorably  with  those  of  other  national 
ities,  American  as  well  as  foreign.  There  were  no 
public  baths  in  Lowell — as  there  should  be  in 
every  crowded  city — so  a  public  spirited  Greek, 
the  k.  Spyropoulos,  who  has  been  in  Lowell  twenty 
years,  recently  started  one  for  the  Greeks  over 
his  coffee  house,  installing  up-to-date  automatic 
heaters  for  his  showers.  In  the  summer  he  aver 
ages  some  200  a  week.  They  are  used  by  the 
women  at  special  hours,  as  well  as  the  men. 

For  his  principal  means  of  recreation,  the  Greek 
of  Lowell,  as  in  most  other  Greek  colonies  of  any 
size,  has  that  purely  oriental  institution,  the 
coffee  house.  When  these  were  first  established  in 
Lowell,  the  chief  of  police  objected  to  the  Greek 
vice-consul,  but  finally  agreed  to  allow  them  under 
suffrance.  At  the  end  of  six  months  all  ban  was 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  151 

removed,  and  the  police  declared  them  one  of  the 
most  beneficial  institutions  in  the  city.  They  are 
to  the  Greek  what  in  a  certain  degree  the  saloon 
is  to  the  American  laborer,  i.  e.,  in  its  social  as 
pects,  without  the  harmfulness  of  the  saloon.  It 
would  be  a  mighty  good  thing  if  our  vociferous 
"temperance"  societies  would  spend  their  tongues 
and  pens  in  establishing  and  popularizing  Ameri 
can  coffee  houses  instead  of  frenzied  prohibition 
— at  which  latter  spectacle  our  Greeks  are  ever 
wont  to  jest.  Imagine  a  room,  sometimes  shabby, 
sometimes  neat,  filled  with  little  tables,  about 
which  are  seated  moustached  Greeks,  talking,  jok 
ing,  playing  cards,  sometimes  singing,  poring  over 
newspapers,  and  smoking  cigarettes  and  drinking 
their  thick,  sweet  Turkish  coffee,  served  in  tiny 
cups,  or  perhaps  Moxie  or  some  other  soft  drink. 
Here  are  discussed  with  relish  and  vivacity  and 
factional  intelligence  the  politics  of  the  commu 
nity,  Greece,  the  United  States.  Here  is  the  typ 
ical  Greek  spirit  of  comradeship  and  argument. 
In  some  coffee  houses  in  other  cities,  and  especially 
in  the  West  where  idle  railroad  laborers  congre 
gate,  there  is  much  gambling,  and  innocents  are 
fleeced  by  professionals.  But  in  Lowell  there  is 
little  rabid  gambling,  except  among  a  small  group, 
the  Mainates,  from  a  particular  section  of  south 
ern  Peloponnesus,  Maina.  These  are  the  only 
professionals,  and  they  are  not  at  all  in  favor  with 
the  rest  of  the  community,  nor  do  they  carry  on 
their  trade  in  the  coffee  houses,  but  in  private 


152  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

rooms.  There  is  scarcely  any  fleecing  in  Lowell 
now,  for  the  community  is  an  established  Greek 
city  and  little  underhand  work  can  be  done  with 
out  the  rest  knowing  it.  The  coffee  houses  have 
been  accused  of  breeding  idleness,  but  except  for 
the  western  railroad  laborers,  this  must  be  gener 
ally  speaking,  false,  for  there  is  hardly  another 
nationality  in  America  which  has  such  a  universal 
majority  of  steady  and  shrewd  workers. 

As  for  drunkenness,  as  we  have  stated  before, 
there  is  practically  none  among  Greeks.  In  this 
they  ever  adhere  to  that  fundamental  maxim  of 
the  sages  of  ancient  Greece,  "Measure  in  all 
things,"  or  "Nothing  in  excess."  I  was  told  that 
for  the  past  twenty  years  in  Lowell  there  has  been 
only  one  arrest  of  a  Greek  on  the  charge  of  intoxi 
cation,  and  it  was  not  at  all  certain  that  that  man 
was  drunk.  The  Greeks,  when  they  can  get  it, 
drink  beer  with  their  suppers  in  lieu  of  the  light 
wines  they  were  always  accustomed  to  at  home. 
The  strict  enforcement  of  prohibition  or  high 
license  laws  on  Greeks,  thereby  depriving  them  of 
a  harmless  custom  of  home,  amounts  in  their  case 
to  a  barbarous  persecution.  I  1 

A  common  source  of  recreation  among  the  mar 
ried  people  is  for  a  couple  of  families  to  spend  the 
evening  together.  The  Greeks  enjoy  going  to  the 
moving  pictures  and  cheaper  theaters  and  the 
near-by  summer  resorts,  just  like  other  laboring 
people. 

There  is  an  excellent  amateur  theatrical  troup 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  153 

of  some  twenty  members,  organized  out  of  the 
working  people  six  years  ago.  They  give  about 
ten  modern  Greek  plays  a  year,  and  you  can  gener 
ally  see  their  posters  in  Greek  decorating  the  lamp 
posts  and  shop  windows  of  Market  Street. 

Several  years  ago  a  military  company  was  or 
ganized.  Before  the  Balkan  war  it  numbered 
about  200.  They  wear  natty  khaki  uniforms,  and 
drill  according  to  the  Greek  manual  with  imitation 
guns.  They  have  their  own  drill  hall,  and  in  the 
summer  it  is  a  usual  Sunday  sight  to  see  them 
marching  out  to  the  open  country. 

Of  course  there  are  the  usual  Greek  local  so 
cieties,  made  up  of  the  natives  of  certain  Greek 
or  Turkish  provinces.  They  have  their  own 
rooms,  outside  of  which  are  flaunted  great  Greek 
signs.  But  here  let  us  record  with  satisfaction 
a  turn  in  this  tide:  there  were  12;  at  present  there 
are  only  6.  It  is  hoped  by  the  leading  Greeks 
that  soon  there  will  be  none,  for  it  is  these  that 
do  much  to  foster  factional  strife.  The  reason 
for  this  lessening  of  the  number  of  societies  is  the 
Pan-Hellenic  Union.  This  is  an  excellent  exam 
ple  of  the  good  the  Union  is  accomplishing. 

As  has  been  the  case  everywhere  else,  so  in 
Lowell  the  Greeks,  however  poor  and  wretched, 
have  always  taken  care  of  themselves  or  each  other. 
They  are  too  proud  to  accept  charity.  During 
all  the  twenty  years,  except  in  one  instance,  the 
city  of  Lowell  has  never  paid  a  cent  to  help  a 
Greek  individual  or  family,  nor  to  bury  a  Greek. 


154  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

The  one  instance  was  when  a  Greek  Protestant 
"missionary"  went  to  the  overseer  of  the  poor  and 
got  some  money  ostensibly  for  his  brother's  family, 
all  of  whom  were  working  at  the  time ! 

Instances  there  have  been  when  some  well  mean' 
ing  Protestant  churches  have  tried  to  proselytize 
the  Orthodox  Greeks ;  but  the  methods  they  em 
ployed  and  the  display  they  made  over  their 
baptism  ( !)  of  one  convert  so  embittered  the 
Greeks  that  they  despised  and  still  despise  the 
name  Protestant  even  more  than  they  did  in 
Greece.  There  is,  however,  one  Lowell  Greek,  one 
of  the  five  or  six  Protestant  "missionaries"  in 
America  connected  with  the  Congregationalists, 
a  sweet-souled  old  man,  who,  though  he  rarely 
makes  a  convert,  has  nevertheless  made  himself 
respected  and  beloved  by  his  deeds  of  real  charity 
in  visiting  the  sick  and  suffering  of  his  country 
men. 

In  regard  to  strikes  the  Greeks  differ  from  other 
nationalities.  To  be  sure,  in  Lowell  and  elsewhere 
the  Greeks  sometimes  walk  out  with,  or  even  with 
out,  the  other  textile  employees,  but  they  do  it 
in  their  own  exclusive  way.  Being  thoroughly 
organized  and  sufficient  unto  themselves,  they  care 
naught  for  labor  unions  nor  the  I.  W.  W.  For 
example,  during  the  strike  in  Lowell  in  the  spring 
of  1912,  the  Greeks  struck  with  the  rest,  but  they 
did  it  under  their  own  organization  and  had  to  be 
dealt  with  separately.  This  fact  and  their  exem 
plary  behavior  redounded  to  their  advantage. 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  155 

The  city  of  Lowell  and  the  commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  have  done  well  by  the  Greek  in  the 
matter  of  schools.  There  are  two  evening  schools 
held  in  city  school  buildings,  exclusively  for 
Greeks,  in  session  four  months  of  the  year.  These 
average  400  scholars  and  sometimes  reach  600. 
English,  history,  arithmetic,  and  other  elementary 
branches  are  taught.  The  Greeks  prove  good 
scholars  and  are  well  behaved.  They  are  con 
sidered  the  most  orderly  and  best  evening  schools 
in  the  city.  Attendance  is  obligatory  for  minors 
by  state  law.  No  young  foreigner  between  the 
ages  of  14  and  18  (or,  if  illiterate,  21),  can  obtain 
or  keep  a  job  in  the  mills  without  showing  his 
school  card  properly  marked  for  attendance. 
This  is  an  excellent  state  law  and  should  be 
adopted  by  all  states  where  there  are  a  number 
of  immigrants  residing.1  In  addition  to  the 

i  Revised  Laws  of  Massachusetts  relating  to  Public  In 
struction,  enacted  1901,  with  amendments  and  additions 
from  1902  to  1911:— 

CHAPTER  514. 

EVENING   SCHOOLS 

SECTION  11.  Any  town  may,  and  every  city  or  town  of 
ten  thousand  or  more  inhabitants  shall,  maintain  annually 
evening  schools  for  the  instruction  of  persons  over  four 
teen  years  of  age  in  orthography,  reading,  writing,  the 
English  language  and  grammar,  geography,  arithmetic,  in 
dustrial  drawing,  both  free  hand  and  mechanical,  the  his 
tory  of  the  United  States,  physiology  and  hygiene,  and 
good  behavior.  Such  other  subjects  may  be  taught  in  such 
schools  as  the  school  committee  consider  expedient. 


156  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

minors,  indeed  in  excess  of  them,  a  large  number 
of  older  Greek  men  attend  these  two  schools. 
There  are  not  many  Greeks  of  Lowell  naturalized 
as  yet,  though  they  are  trying  to  qualify  all  the 
time,  and  a  large  number  have  their  first  papers. 
Then  there  is  the  distinctly  Greek  school  of  the 
community,  for  the  little  Greek  boys  and  girls, 
which  meets  in  the  basement  of  the  church  under 
two  Greek  teachers,  a  man  and  a  woman,  and  one 
American,  a  woman.  The  attendance  is  about 

EVENING   HIGH    SCHOOLS 

SECTION  12.  Every  city  of  fifty  thousand  or  more  in 
habitants  shall  maintain  annually  an  evening  high  school, 
in  which  shall  be  taught  such  subjects  as  the  school  com 
mittee  thereof  consider  expedient,  if  fifty  or  more  resi 
dents,  fourteen  years  of  age  or  over,  who  are  competent 
in  the  opinion  of  the  school  committee  to  pursue  high 
school  studies  shall  petition  in  writing  for  an  evening  high 
school  and  certify  that  they  desire  to  attend  such  school. 

SECTION  13.  The  school  committee  shall,  two  weeks  next 
before  the  opening  of  each  term  of  the  evening  schools, 
post  in  three  or  more  public  places  of  their  city  or  town 
notice  of  the  location  of  said  schools,  the  date  of  the  be 
ginning  of  the  term,  the  evenings  of  the  week  on  which 
they  shall  be  kept,  such  regulations  as  to  attendance  as 
they  deem  proper,  and  the  provisions  of  section  thirty- 
five  of  chapter  one  hundred  and  six, 

CHAPTER  42. 

ILLITERATE    MINORS    MUST    ATTEND    EVENING 
SCHOOLS 

SECTION  66.  While  a  public  evening  school  is  maintained 
in  the  city  or  town  in  which  any  minor  resides  who  is 
over  fourteen  years  of  age  and  who  does  not  have  a  cer 
tificate  signed  by  the  superintendent  of  schools,  or  by  the 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  157 

100,  and  100  more  attend  the  regular  American 
public  schools. 

Let  us  conclude  this  sketch  of  Lowell  with  a 
description  of  the  interior  of  the  beautiful  church, 
of  which  the  Greeks  of  the  whole  country  are  so 
justly  proud.  It  is  pure  Byzantine  except  for 
the  wall  frescoes  and  the  pulpit.  You  enter 
through  the  arched  doorway  into  the  porch,  where 
stands  the  framed  Eikons  and  the  candle  holder. 
(The  Baptismal  font  is  kept  in  a  closet  in  the 

school  committee,  or  by  some  person  acting  under  author 
ity  thereof,  certifying  to  his  ability  to  read  at  sight  and 
write  legibly  simple  sentences  in  the  English  language,  no 
person  shall  employ  him,  and  no  parent,  guardian  or  cus 
todian  shall  permit  him  to  be  employed  unless  he  is  a 
regular  attendant  at  such  evening  school  or  at  a  day  school. 
.  .  .  Any  minor  not  holding  such  certificate  shall  furnish 
to  his  employer  a  record  of  his  school  attendance  each 
week  while  the  evening  school  is  in  session,  and  when  said 
record  shows  unexcused  absences  from  the  sessions,  his 
attendance  shall  be  deemed  irregular  according  to  this  act. 
Whoever  employs  a  minor  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of 
this  section  shall  forfeit  not  more  than  one  hundred  dol 
lars  for  each  offence  to  the  use  of  the  evening  schools  of 
such  city  or  town.  A  parent,  guardian  or  custodian  who 
permits  a  minor  under  his  control  to  be  employed  in  viola 
tion  of  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  forfeit  not  more 
than  twenty  dollars  to  the  use  of  the  evening  schools  of 
such  city  or  town. 

(As  amended  by   chapter  241,  Acts  of   1911,  and  chapter 
191,  1912) 

"Child"  or  "Minor"  shall  mean  a  person  under  eighteen 
years  of  age,  except  that  in  regard  to  the  compulsory  at 
tendance  of  illiterate  minors  at  day  or  evening  schools, 
the  word  "Minor"  shall  mean  a  person  under  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years. 


158  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

basement,  and  babies  are  immersed  in  the  school 
room.  It  looks  like  a  great  copper  cauldron  on 
a  standard.)  From  the  inner  doors  of  the  porch 
you  advance  under  the  deep  gallery  for  women 
to  the  center  of  the  church.  There  are  no  seats 
of  course,  save  a  few  in  the  gallery,  which  is  for 
the  women.  As  you  stand  under  the  glistening 
chandelier  which  hangs  from  the  center  of  the 
broad  dome,  to  the  right  and  left  are  the  short, 
wide  arms  of  the  cruciform  structure,  and  before 
you  the  eikonostasis,  or  solid  screen  shutting  off 
the  sanctuary,  or,  as  the  Orthodox  call  it,  the 
altar.  In  its  midst  are  the  holy  doors,  on  the  left 
the  doors  of  the  prothesis  or  credence,  and  on  the 
right  those  of  the  vesting  room.  Before  the  eik- 
onastasis  hang  the  seven  silver  lamps,  on  either 
side  are  the  singers'  desks,  railed  off  in  brass  with 
the  various  office  books  upon  them,  and  behind 
the  left  hand  desk  rises  the  pulpit — a  high  one  of 
regular  western  model.  On  the  other  side,  under 
the  transept's  round  arch,  is  the  massive  episcopal 
throne,  whereon  a  Greek  bishop  has  not  yet  sat, 
though  a  Syrian  bishop  has,  I  have  been  told. 
When  the  holy  doors  in  the  center  are  swung 
open,  there  stands  the  square  Altar  or  Holy  Table 
on  which  are  the  tabernacle  and  the  book  of  the 
Holy  Gospels,  and  behind  the  Altar  a  great  cruci 
fix  with  the  Corpus  painted  flat.  (In  the  picture 
shown  on  the  opposite  page  the  crucifix  has  been 
carried  to  the  center  of  the  nave  and  stands  be 
side  the  representation  of  the  sepulchre  of  the 


IN  THE  MILL  TOWNS  159 

buried  Lord,  used  only  on  Good  Friday  and  Easter 
Even.  The  regular  place  of  the  candle  stands 
is  before  the  two  central  Eikons.) 

Let  me  give  a  list  of  the  paintings,  and  then 
let  the  reader  with  the  help  of  the  picture  imagine 
this  church  as  best  he  may.  The  figures  beauti 
fully  executed  on  the  eikonastasis  are,  of  course, 
according  to  the  century-old  stereotyped  models, 
although  the  coloring  is  not  gaudy,  as  is  usual, 
but  of  light  mural  tints.  The  other  paintings 
are  either  copies  of  eastern  and  western  art  or 
the  artist's  own  conceptions.  The  large  Eikons 
flanking  the  holy  doors  are: — to  the  right  as  you 
face  the  screen,  the  Christ  and  His  forerunner; 
to  the  left  His  Blessed  Mother  (Theotokos)  and 
the  Holy  Trinity.  Above  the  doors  is  the  Last 
Supper,  and  on  either  side  the  Twelve  Apostles. 
On  the  holy  doors  are  the  two  figures  of  the  An 
nunciation,  and  on  the  two  side  doors  archangels. 
Behind  and  above  the  screen  in  the  half  dome 
of  the  central  apse  is  a  beautiful  conception  of 
the  crowned  Theotokos  and  Child  surrounded  by 
angels ;  and  high  above,  on  the  arched  rear  wall, 
the  mitred  figures  of  the  three  great  Patriarchs, 
S.S.  Chrysostom,  Basil,  and  Gregory.  In  the 
springing  of  the  dome  over  the  four  corner  pillars, 
are  represented  the  four  evangelists,  and  from 
high  aloft,  encircling  the  dome  itself,  look  down 
the  nine  orders  of  angels.  Finally  the  walls  of 
the  shallow  transepts  contain  eight  tall  frescoes, 
portraying  the  life  of  our  Lord :  "  The  Nativity," 


160  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

"Christ  among  the  Doctors,"  "The  Baptism," 
"The  Agony  in  Gethsemane,"  "The  Crucifixion," 
and  "The  Ascension."  Nothing  in  Eikons  or 
paintings  is  gaudy,  but  all  is  done  with  exquisite 
taste  and  proportion.  Truly  this  house  of  God, 
so  full  of  ordered  symbolism  and  pictured  teaching, 
cannot  but  instil  in  the  Greek  reverent  thoughts 
of  God  and  His  power  and  love,  and  devotion  to 
His  Holy  Church.2 

In  Massachusetts,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  table, 
Appendix  A,  there  are,  exclusive  of  Boston,  five 
other  colonies  in  manufacturing  cities,  numbering 
over  a  thousand,  and  many  more  numbering  into 
the  hundreds.  In  New  Hampshire  and  Maine 
also  there  are  large  colonies.  In  all  these,  con 
ditions  are  much  the  same  as  in  Lowell,  tKough 
nowhere  is  the  colony  concentrated  nor  the  or 
ganization  as  perfected. 

2  Late  last  year  a  noteworthy  account  of  this  city  of 
many  races  appeared,  "The  Record  of  a  City,"  by  George  F. 
Kenngott,  Ph.D.  (Macmillan,  1912),  written  in  a  sympathetic 
spirit  and  most  valuable  to  the  student  of  immigration.  It 
came  to  my  hands  after  I  had  written  this  chapter;  and 
it  is  gratifying  to  find  it  in  almost  entire  accord  with  the 
facts  and  conclusions  of  my  Greek  informants. 


THE  GREAT  WEST 

Let  us  next  consider  very  briefly  the  life  of  the 
western  railroad  laborers,  with  sketches  of  three 
typical  western  Greek  communities.  Their  life 
and  low  condition  in  the  winter  months  is  some 
what  like  that  of  the  mill  hands,  only  worse. 

RAILROAD  GANGS 

Throughout  the  West,  the  work  on  the  railroad 
lines  is  done  by  Greeks,  Bulgarians,  Roumanians, 
Croatians,  and  also  some  Italians.  Each  gang 
is  treated  as  a  racial  unit,  living  in  separate  cars. 
The  other  nationalities  sometimes  fraternize  in 
the  same  camp,  but  the  Hellene  never.  The  bosses 
declare  the  Greeks  to  be  steady  and  cheerful. 
The  quarters  are  freight  cars,  fitted  up  with 
eight  or  ten  bunks,  and  separate  cars  for  dining 
room  and  kitchen.  The  bunk  cars  are  never 
crowded  and  space  usually  is  left  in  the  middle  for 
a  table  for  card  playing.  In  the  kitchen  car, 
equipped  with  its  range,  ice  chest,  and  lockers,  the 
cook  sleeps,  and  sometimes  an  interpreter.  The 
camps  are  on  sidings,  with  ladders  raised  to  the 
open  doorways.  Sometimes  the  cook  bakes  his 
bread  in  an  oven  built  into  an  embankment  or 

hillside.     The  men  go  to  and  from  their  work  on 
161 


162  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

hand  cars.  Thus  they  live  in  the  warm  months 
of  the  year,  and  in  the  winter  months  pile  into  the 
various  cities  which  dot  the  great  West,  all  the 
way  from  Chicago  to  the  Pacific.  The  sad  result 
of  the  idle  winter  life  of  the  western  Greek  laborer 
we  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter. 

In  all  these  cities  where  are  congregated  the 
Greeks,  the  coffee  houses  are  in  abundance,  and  in 
them  the  idle  laborers  waste  most  of  their  time. 
Unlike  those  of  Lowell,  the  western  coffee  houses 
are  often  the  haunts  of  the  professional  gambler 
and  the  professional  vampires  of  all  kinds,  women 
as  well  as  men,  who  fleece  and  ruin  and  degrade. 
Besides  the  frequent  phonographs,  these  coffee 
houses  often  offer  the  attraction  of  strolling  play 
ers  and  dancing.  And  the  western  police  gladly 
tolerate  all  this,  for  they  squeeze  fat  bribes  from 
the  proprietors.  If  the  police  do  not  get  it  the 
lawyers  do.  Thus  the  proprietors  are  often 
ruined  as  well  as  their  customers.  This,  indeed, 
must  seem  like  home  to  the  Macedonian  Greeks 
and  the  like,  who  wrere  brought  up  under  Turkish 
officials. 

There  was  one  instance  in  South  Omaha  where 
the  Americans,  after  a  meeting  in  their  city  hall 
arose  in  a  body  and  drove  out  the  Greeks  and 
destroyed  their  shops.  The  direct  cause  of  this 
was  the  murder  of  a  policeman,  but  the  matter 
had  been  smouldering  for  some  time  before  be 
cause  some  of  the  idle  railroad  laborers  had  made 
themselves  nuisances.  This  is  the  only  instance 


THE  GREAT  WEST  163 

of  such  an  action  against  Greeks  by  an  American 
mob.  This  South  Omaha  affair  is  discussed  by 
Dr.  Peter  Roberts,  International  Immigration 
Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in  "New  Immigra 
tion,"  p.  299,  (Macmillan,  1912),  as  follows: 

"In  South  Omaha,  one  of  the  most  shameful  riots 
ever  known  took  place  because  of  prejudice  against 
the  foreigner.  A  Greek  went  into  the  house  of  a 
young  lady  of  questionable  character,  and  a  policeman, 
following  the  man,  arrested  him  without  any  overt 
cause  whatsoever.  The  Greek  resisted  and,  in  the 
scuffle  which  followed,  the  officer  was  shot.  That  was 
Saturday  night.  The  following  Sunday  morning  as 
the  bells  were  ringing,  calling  men  to  worship,  a  mob 
assembled  and,  under  the  leadership  of  disreputable 
fellows,  began  storming  the  Greek  quarters,  smashing 
windows,  breaking  doors,  and  pursuing  the  terror- 
stricken  and  defenseless  Greeks  in  all  directions.  On 
the  corner  of  L  Street  and  24th  Avenue  was  the  firm 
of  Demos  Brothers — superior  men  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  one  of  them  being  married  to  an  American 
girl.  This  store  was  several  blocks  away  from  the 
Greek  quarter,  but  on  came  the  raging  mob  as  the 
surging  tide,  lashed  by  gusts  of  rage  and  passion. 
They  attacked  the  store  at  a  time  when  the  white- 
haired  mother  of  the  Demos  Brothers  sat  quietly  at 
the  soda  fountain.  They  smashed  windows,  tore  to 
pieces  the  soda  fountain,  strewed  on  floor  and  street 
the  contents  of  windows  and  cases  and  left  the  place, 
which  represented  an  investment  of  more  than  $7000, 
a  mass  of  ruins.  The  brothers  and  their  families  fled 
for  life.  They  had  other  stores  in  Omaha,  which  they 
immediately  gave  up,  for  they  knew  not  how  far  this 


164  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

wave  of  fury,  fanaticism,  and  savagery  would  sweep, 
and  in  a  week  they  found  themselves  reduced  by  mob 
violence  in  Christian  America  from  the  position  of 
prosperous  merchants  to  paupers.  .  .  .  Instances  of 
mob  violence  against  the  foreigners  are  also  found  in 
the  East,  and  even  the  South  is  not  exempt.  .  .  ." 

Perhaps  we  can  get  the  best  general  idea  of 
these  western  communities  by  quoting  in  literal 
translation  the  account  of  three  of  them  from 
Canoutas'  "Greek  American  Guide." 

ST.  LOUIS 

"Of  the  Central  States  Missouri  entertains  the  larg 
est  number  of  Greeks  after  Illinois.  There  are  from 
5000  to  6000  of  our  fellow-countrymen  there,  often 
more.  The  largest  Greek  centers  are  St.  Louis,  Kan 
sas  City,  and  St.  Joseph. 

"In  St.  Louis  the  Greeks  who  live  there  permanently 
number  some  2000.  In  the  winter  time  this  number 
is  nearly  doubled  by  the  coming  of  the  many  laborers 
from  the  railway  lines.  The  Greek  shops  amount  to 
about  200,  and  consist  of  candy  stores,  restaurants, 
bootblacking  establishments,  and  the  inevitable  Greek 
workmen's  centers,  the  coffee  houses  and  the  Greek 
restaurants,  which  are  on  Elm  and  Walnut  Streets. 
Families,  70-80.  Outside  of  those  engaged  in  Greek 
shops,  they  are  employed  in  the  factories  or  the  Amer 
ican  hotels. 

"The  Greek  community  of  St.  Louis  dates  from 
1905.  At  first  the  priests  in  Chicago  took  turns  com 
ing  to  celebrate  the  Divine  Liturgy,  and  then  a  regu 
lar  pastor  was  appointed,  coming  there  from  Boston — 
the  Rev.  P.  Phiampolis.  They  used  and  still  use  for 


THE  GREAT  WEST  165 

the  Greek  church  an  Episcopal  church  building.  At 
the  end  of  1910  the  community  divided  into  two  parts. 
On  account  of  dissatisfaction  from  several  causes  the 
greater  part  left  the  above  church,  and,  headed  by  a 
Greek  physician,  they  formed  a  community  and  hired 
a  church  building  and  called  as  priest  the  Rev.  P.  Ab- 
ramopoulos,  who  before  that  was  living  in  Portland, 
Oregon,  without  a  parish." 

SALT  LAKE    CITY 

"About  4000  of  our  people  are  in  the  state  of  Utah, 
most  of  them  workmen  in  the  coal  and  other  mines 
and  on  the  railway  lines.  The  chief  center  for  the 
Greeks  is  Salt  Lake  City,  where  there  is  a  community 
of  the  same  name.  At  present  there  are  some  hun 
dred  Greek  shops  there,  half  of  which  deal  entirely 
with  the  Greeks;  these  are  concentrated  on  2nd  Street 
S.  W.,  where  is  the  Greek  colony,  and  consist  of  coffee 
houses,  restaurants,  groceries,  saloons,  barber  shops, 
etc.  The  rest  are  entirely  for  American  trade  and  are 
restaurants,  a  few  candy  stores,  and  bootblack  stands. 

"The  progress  of  this  colony  till  lately  has  been  by 
leaps  and  bounds.  In  January,  1905,  the  resolution 
was  adopted  to  call  a  priest  and  organize  a  church. 
On  the  21st  of  April  he  came,  the  present  priestly 
head,  the  Rev.  Archimandrite  Parthenos  Lymperopou- 
los,  appointed  by  the  Holy  Synod  of  Greece.  On 
Palm  Sunday  the  first  Liturgy  was  celebrated  in  a 
hired  hall.  On  May  10th  they  bought  in  a  very  cen 
tral  location  a  lot  for  the  church  building.  On  July 
10th  the  foundation  stone  was  laid,  and  on  October 
25th  the  church  edifice,  costing  about  $10000,  was 
turned  over  to  the  community.  On  the  29th  of  the 
same  month  the  Liturgy  was  celebrated  in  the  newly 


166  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

built  church,,  which  is  dedicated  to  the  '  Holy  Trinity.' 
This  church  is  free  from  all  debt,  and  has  been  fur 
nished  and  decorated  by  the  generous  subscriptions  of 
the  Greeks  of  the  state  of  Utah,  who,  outside  those 
mentioned  above  living  at  the  capital,  are  all  laborers ; 
but  laborers  industrious  and  saving,  devout  and  patri 
otic,  eager  to  contribute  their  obol  for  the  good  of 
the  whole  community  or  the  national  need  of  the 
fatherland,  whenever  asked  to  do  so,  whether  by  their 
priest,  whom  all  reverence  and  love,  or  by  those  di 
recting  the  affairs  of  the  community  at  the  time. 

"Among  the  best  known  of  our  fellow-countrymen 
there  we  will  mention  the  k.  Nicholas  Stathakos  (who 
did  a  great  deal  in  the  organization  of  the  community 
and  the  building  of  the  church),  the  two  brothers  the  k. 
k.  Leonidas  and  Evangelos  Skleres.  The  former  is  very 
well  known  in  the  western  states,  not  only  among  the 
Greeks  but  also  among  the  American  business  men, 
as  ingenious,  active,  and  daring  in  enterprises,  a  con 
tractor  for  various  kinds  of  labor  and  an  agent  for 
work  for  many  thousand  Greek  laborers.  The  latter, 
who  is  a  lawyer,  was  engaged  formerly  with  his 
brother  in  business  transactions  and  enterprises  and 
now  is  director  of  the  commercial  house  called  the 
Italian-Greek  Mercantile  Company.  Recently  two 
Greek  newspapers  have  been  started,  one,  Light,  by 
Dr.  P.  Kassinikos  and  the  k.  Joan.  Georgiados,  and 
the  other,  Progress,  by  Georg.  Photopoulos.  There  is 
a  branch  there  of  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union." 

SEATTLE 

"In  the  state  of  Washington  live  6000-8000  Greeks. 
The  majority  of  these  are  employed  on  the  railway 
lines,  the  rest  in  the  lumber  mills,  which  abound  in 


THE  GREAT  WEST  167 

this  state,  or  in  other  work.  Wages  vary  according 
to  the  kind  of  work  from  $1.65  to  $2.50  a  day,  and  a 
few  receive  less  or  more.  In  the  winter  most  of  our 
laborers  are  concentrated  in  the  cities  of  Spokane, 
Seattle,  and  Tacoma,  where  they  find  Greek  coffee 
houses  and  restaurants. 

"In  the  city  of  Seattle  there  dwell  in  the  summer 
about  1000  Greeks  and  in  the  winter  time  they  amount 
to  2000  or  3000  and  often  more,  from  the  conflux  of 
the  railroad  laborers  and  others  from  Alaska  (where 
at  present  some  300-500  work  in  the  mines;  formerly 
there  were  more).  Families  in  Seattle  about  50.  The 
Greek  stores  are  fish  markets,  restaurants,  coffee 
houses,  a  few  saloons  and  bootblack  stands.  Here 
our  fellow-countryman  from  Andros,  the  k.  K.  Pan- 
tazes,  began  his  enterprises  and  has  his  headquarters 
as  owner  and  director  of  many  theaters  in  the  various 
states  west  of  Chicago. 

"The  first  Greeks  in  Seattle  were  some  sailors,  who 
settled  there  more  than  thirty  years  ago.  Of  these 
we  will  mention  the  k.  G.  Chatzetamates  from  Tseme 
(Turkey  in  Europe)  and  N.  Petsas  from  Spetsai,  who 
are  still  there.  Years  ago,  before  the  city  had  begun 
to  develop,  the  former,  with  his  brother-in-law,  N. 
Mantsas,  bought  for  a  comparatively  low  price  a  cer 
tain  lot  (757  Lake  View  Avenue)  on  which  they  built 
a  church;  but  as  they  were  unable  to  support  a  priest, 
they  gave  it  over,  just  as  the  Greeks  in  Galveston, 
Texas,  had  done,  to  the  Russian  bishop,  who  sent  a 
pastor,  and  after  him  another,  the  Rev.  M.  Andreades, 
a  very  learned  Greek  clergyman,  a  native  of  Con 
stantinople,  but  educated  in  Russia.  Because  the 
Greeks  outnumbered  the  other  Orthodox  in  Seattle, 
this  priest  was  granted  permission  to  celebrate  the 


168  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Divine  Liturgy  in  Greek.  Nevertheless,  later  many 
of  our  fellow-countrymen  there  made  the  resolve  to 
establish  a  purely  Greek  church  and  started  a  sub 
scription  for  this  purpose. 

"There  is  a  benevolent  society  there  under  the  title 
of  'Hellenism,'  which  is  doing  much  good,  as  we  were 
able  to  find  out  in  our  tour.  Also  there  is  another 
local  society  called  'Erythrai/  composed  of  the  natives 
of  Krikoukios  (near  Athens).  Recently  there  was 
established  a  Branch  of  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union." 


XI 

I 

THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES 

The  typical  instances  of  Greek  communities  we 
have  given  thus  far  have  been  those  of  large  ex 
tent,  containing  from  one  to  many  thousands. 
In  these  the  Greeks  have,  perforce,  clannishly  con 
gregated  by  themselves,  and  the  majority  have 
little  real  touch  with  Americans.  This  applies  to 
the  smaller  as  well  as  the  larger  communities  of 
our  factory  towns. 

There  is,  however,  another  and  far  better  type 
of  Greek  colony,  where  the  Greeks  are  both  com 
paratively  few  in  number  and  the  majority  are 
not  low  class  day  laborers,  but  engaged  in  busi 
ness.  As  a  result,  most  of  the  Greeks  in  such 
places  prove  themselves  enterprising  business  men, 
gain  the  respect  of  their  customers  and  neighbors, 
and  become  really  assimilated  with  American  life 
as  useful  citizens.  Such  are  the  communities  of 
the  cities  of  the  South  and  also  in  other  sections 
of  the  country. 

We  will  briefly  touch  on  two  of  these  star  com 
munities,  and  describe  more  at  length  a  third. 
For  the  first  we  will  again  give  Canoutas'  account.1 

MINNEAPOLIS 

"Founded  in   1907  and  containing  about  500  com 
patriots,  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  perfect  of  the  Greek 
i  Pages  389-390. 


170  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

communities  in  America.  The  Greek  business  con 
cerns  in  this  city,  especially  the  confectionery  stores, 
are  among  the  finest  in  America,  calling  forth  the 
praise  and  admiration  of  the  Americans.  The  pro 
prietors  of  these  and  almost  all  the  Greeks  here  re 
joice  in  a  very  excellent  reputation.  Their  small  but 
beautiful  church  in  Byzantine  style  is  one  of  the  fin 
est  Greek  churches  in  America.  This  was  completed 
in  April,  1909,  as  is  shown  by  the  inscription  on  the 
corner-stone,  'This  All-Venerable  Temple  of  the 
Theotokos,  the  Piety  and  Patriotism  of  the  Greeks 
Erected  April,  1909.'  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 
the  University  of  Minnesota  claimed  the  first  piece 
of  land  acquired  by  the  Greek  community,  and  brought 
suit:  but  an  agreement  was  reached  out  of  court,  that 
our  people  should  for  a  sum  of  money  transfer  their 
property  elsewhere.  So  they  bought  another  lot  and 
built  their  church.  The  pastor  of  this  community 
since  its  founding  has  been  the  Rev.  Archimandrite 
Kyrillos  Vapheiadakes,  graduate  in  Divinity  of  the 
National  University,  a  mild  and  agreeable  gentleman, 
enjoying  the  greatest  veneration  from  his  entire 
flock." 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

This  community  of  about  600  Greeks,  which 
rejoices  in  the  honor  of  counting  among  its  mem 
bers  those  of  the  Royal  Legation  of  Greece,  is, 
says  Canoutas,  "One  of  the  most  peace  loving  and 
progressive  in  America,  showing  none  of  those 
absurdities  which  are  usually  to  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  other  communities  and  colonies."  Some 
two  or  three  of  the  Greeks  of  the  cultured  class 
and  others,  whom  I  have  met,  have  evinced  little 


THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES      171 

respect  for  the  Greek  priests.  "A  money  grasp 
ing  lot,  unspiritual,  not  missionaries,"  they  have 
told  me.  And  I  fear  this  is  all  too  just  a  judg 
ment  upon  some.  But  there  is  one  priest  whom 
even  the  most  rabid  spoke  of  with  respect,  and  that 
is  the  pastor  of  the  community  at  the  Capitol,  the 
Archimandrite  Joachim  Alexopoulos. 

BIRMINGHAM 

The  third  smaller  community  we  select  is  Bir 
mingham.  This  is  typical  of  the  Greek  colonies 
of  the  South.  Savannah  and  Atlanta  are  just 
as  flourishing  and  would  have  done  just  as  well. 
Now  our  purpose  in  these  three  chapters  has  been 
to  give  a  complete  and  properly  proportioned  view 
of  Greek  life  in  America.  For  this  purpose  the 
account  of  Birmingham  is  as  equally  important  as 
those  of  Chicago  and  Lowell.  But  it  need  not 
be  as  lengthy  as  those  other  two,  for  the  very 
reason  that  the  praiseworthy  condition  of  the 
Greeks  in  Birmingham  contains  little  unusual  to 
the  American  mind,  and  little  that  is  peculiarly 
Greek  except  the  business  enterprise.  We  will 
state,  then,  simply  the  bare  facts,  which  show 
that  an  uncongested  colony  of  this  intelligent  and 
enterprising  race  of  immigrants,  under  normal 
conditions  and  fair  treatment,  wins  its  place  as  a 
thoroughly  respectable  and  beneficial  adjunct  to 
an  American  city. 

In  the  city  of  Birmingham,  with  its  132000  (in 
1900  there  were  but  38000)  dwell  about  900 


172  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Greeks.  Also  as  members  of  the  community  there 
are  300  more  in  the  city  of  Ensley  eight  miles 
out.  The  Greek  families  of  Birmingham  number 
60. 

Here  is  a  list  of  the  shops,  etc.:  3  wholesale 
fruit,  1  hotel,  12  high  class  restaurants  and  lunch 
rooms,  34  smaller  lunch  rooms,  40  fruit  stores  and 
stands,  6  confectioneries,  4  billiard  and  pool  rooms, 
3  saloons,  10  shoe  shine  places,  2  bakeries,  1  bar 
ber  shop,  1  tailor  shop  and  1  fish  market. 

The  Hotel  yclept  "Reliance"  is  a  good  one  of 
some  forty  or  fifty  rooms  and  restaurant,  directly 
opposite  the  railroad  depot,  and  patronized  by 
drummers  and  other  Americans.  As  we  mentioned 
above  the  establishment  in  the  south  of  Greek 
restaurants,  well  kept,  decently  provisioned,  has 
relieved  (so  testify  the  gastronomically  inclined 
traveling  salesmen)  a  well  nigh  intolerable  con 
dition. 

Twenty  odd  years  ago  there  came  to  this  city, 
seeking  for  better  opportunities,  ten  Greeks. 
They  were :  Christos  Tsempelis  or  Zebel,  Nicholas 
Kollias,  Alex.  Kontos,  Panaiotis  Kontos,  Konst. 
Pantazes,  Christos  Collias  the  brothers  Kostouros 
or  Costello,  and  the  brothers  Papageorgios.  All 
of  these  immigrants,  as  well  as  many  another  Greek 
who  came  afterward,  are  now  prosperous. 

Seven  of  the  Birmingham  Greeks  at  the  present 
time  have  property,  real  and  personal,  amounting 
to  over  $40000.  Ten  more  are  worth  between 
$15000  and  $40000.  Ten  more  $5000  to  $15000. 


THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES      173 

The  rest  of  the  storekeepers,  most  of  whom  have 
settled  there  in  the  past  five  or  ten  years,  make 
for  the  most  part  a  good  living,  as  do  also  their 
employees. 

Unlike  the  Greeks  of  most  of  the  colonies  that 
we  have  described  in  previous  chapters,  those  of 
Birmingham  do  not  congregate  in  one  particular 
section  of  the  city,  but  they  own  or  rent  their 
houses  and  lodgings  anywhere  just  like  ordinary 
mortals,  and  very  Americanly  comfortable  are 
some  of  these  homes. 

In  addition  to  this  there  is  in  Birmingham  not 
one  single  coffee  house !  nor  are  there  any  Greek 
stores  for  exclusively  Greek  trade.  They  live  and 
buy  and  sell  just  like  the  other  Birminghamites. 

The  Greek  church  at  the  corner  of  19th  Street 
and  C  Avenue  is  a  wooden  structure  but  well 
equipped.  It  cost  $10000.  Of  its  former  pas 
tor,  says  the  "Greek- American  Guide,"  "The  Rev. 
Arch.  Kallinikos  Kanellas  is  a  very  sympathetic 
and  reverend  old  man  of  whom  it  is  possible  to 
say  that  of  the  Greek  clergy  in  America  he  is  the 
most- — shall  we  say  'disinterested'?  The  Greek 
word  is  a  dandy,  a^tAoxp^/AaroTaros,  (literally,  'not 
loving  of  riches').  Plutarch  used  to  use  that  word. 
The  present  pastor,  the  Arch.  G.  Smyrnakes,  is  a 
most  learned  man,  a  good  linguist,  and  the  author 
of  several  books.  He  came  from  a  monastery  of 
Mt.  Athos  and  has  traveled  much  in  the  east.  In 
addition  to  his  usual  duties  he  lectures  every  Sun 
day  evening  to  his  people  on  various  subjects — 


174  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

religious,  historical,  hygienic,  etc.  These  lectures 
are  given  in  the  Greek  parish  house,  which  con 
sists  of  the  pastor's  apartments  upstairs,  and 
downstairs  a  well  furnished  assembly  room,  one  of 
the  best  small  halls  in  the  city.  Here  the  regular 
community  meetings  are  held. 

The  Birmingham  Greek  men  learn  English  in 
the  evening  schools,  and  the  children  attend  the 
public  schools. 

In  the  summer  of  1909  a  few  young  Greeks  sug 
gested  the  organization  of  a  society  for  the  young 
men  employees  of  the  stores  of  Greeks.  It  was 
thereupon  organized,  with  the  name  of  "Young 
Greeks'  Progressive  Society  of  Birmingham." 
Its  purpose  was  mutual  protection  and  assistance, 
better  acquaintance,  drilling,  athletics,  etc.  In 
1911  it  included  about  150,  almost  all  the  young 
Greek  men  of  the  city.  And  marvelous  to  relate, 
all  work  in  perfect  harmony !  The  treasury  had 
then  about  $3000  in  it,  and  they  were  planning  to 
get  a  gymnasium.  This  is  pretty  good  for  only 
two  years. 

The  young  Greeks  of  Birmingham  enthusiastic 
ally  enjoy  the  national  and  local  celebrations,  when 
they  can  parade  with  their  American  brothers. 
Most  of  the  Greeks  who  have  been  in  Birmingham 
over  five  years  are  naturalized  and  take  a  great 
interest  in  politics.  They  have,  of  course,  a 
branch  of  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union,  and  are  plan 
ning  a  Greek  school. 


THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES     175 

THE  SCATTERED  INDIVIDUALS 
Before  closing  the  chapter  with  an  account  of 
one  more  community,  let  us  remind  the  reader  of 
that  one  other  large  and  important  class  of  Greek 
colonies,  or  rather  of  groups  of  individuals — we 
mean  those  thousands  of  Greek  men  scattered 
everywhere  throughout  every  state  in  the  Union, 
by  ones,  twos,  tens,  or  a  few  more.  Such  isolated 
Greeks,  though  ever  remaining  devoted  sons  of 
Hellas,  become,  because  of  their  very  isolation 
from  their  fellow  countrymen,  quickly  assimilated 
into  American  life,  and  are  everywhere  respected 
as  enterprising  business  men  and  good  fellows. 

A  HALF  GREEK   TOWN 

And  now  let  us  close  our  tale  of  the  Greeks  in 
America  with  a  description  of  that  unique  settle 
ment  of  Hellenes  at  Tarpon  Springs,  on  the  shores 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  Florida.  Unique  it  is,  not 
typical,  in  America.  While  in  many  another  com 
munity  we  find  much  that  is  quaintly  Greek,  it  is 
ever  mingled. with  its  American  setting,  and  often 
times  chilled  by  an  American  climate — all  breathes 
of  the  immigrant.  At  Tarpon  Springs  you  are 
carried  back  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
you  feel  yourself  in  sunny  Argolis.  There  all  the 
quaint  customs  of  Hellas  are  observed  untram 
melled;  yet  there  also  the  Greeks  have  proved 
themselves  public  spirited  American  citizens. 

On  the  warm  shores  of  the  Gulf,  in  a  little  town 
of  4000,  is  this  interesting  settlement  of  2000 


176  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Greeks,  one  half  the  total  population.  It  is  a 
colony  of  sponge  fishers.  Nearly  all  the  Greeks 
there  are  engaged  in  this.  The  colony  dates  from 
only  1905,  when  the  sponges  were  first  discovered. 
At  once  the  Greeks  hastened  hither  from  all  parts 
of  the  United  States  and  elsewhere,  imagining  the 
chance  for  fabulous  wealth.  At  first,  because  of 
their  inexperience  in  the  work  and  because  of  the 
big  output  and  consequent  decline  in  prices,  things 
looked  dark,  but  recently  the  industry  has  picked 
up  and  all  is  well  again. 

The  foundationstone  of  the  Greek  church  was 
laid  with  great  solemnity  on  October  10th,  1909, 
and  the  community  recognized  by  the  state,  duly 
incorporated  under  the  title  of  "Greek  Orthodox 
Community  of  Tarpon  Springs."  The  priest  in 
charge  is  the  Rev.  Christy  Angelopoulos,  who 
though  perhaps  no  great  scholar,  has  proven  him 
self  a  devoted  shepherd,  honored  by  his  flock. 

When  you  alight  at  the  railroad  station,  you 
are  struck  by  the  Greek  signs  printed  along  with 
the  English,  announcing  the  time  of  departing 
trains.  The  Greek  church,  the  club  house,  the 
really  oriental  coffee  houses  with  the  tables  out  of 
doors,  the  Greek  signs  on  the  stores  along  the 
streets — all  serve  to  make  the  visitor  feel  that  a 
bit  of  Hellas  has  been  set  down  in  our  country. 
Greek  flags  float  beside  our  own.  Along  the 
quays  ride  at  anchor  numbers  of  queer  diving 
boats,  painted  in  striking  colors  and  constructed 
on  Greek  models.  In  these  curious  craft  the 


THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES      177 

Greeks  put  out  into  the  gulf  and  bring  home  the 
sponges.  When  the  storms  drive  the  boats  to 
port,  the  harbor  is  a  scene  of  activity,  and  the 
tables  in  front  of  the  coffee  houses  are  thronged 
with  boisterous,  jovial  men,  playing  games, 
smoking  water  pipes,  and  drinking  coffee. 

The  Greeks  here  are  highly  respected  and  be 
loved  by  their  American  fellow  citizens,  with 
whom  they  mingle  freely.  And,  as  elsewhere,  they 
love  to  parade  with  them  on  Fourth  of  July  and 
other  times. 

Let  us  imagine  ourselves  there  on  the  Feast  of 
the  Epiphany  in  January,  1912.  There  is  a 
spectacle  like  that  in  the  harbor  of  Syra  on  this 
great  feast  day,  but  to  be  seen  in  its  outdoor  cere 
mony  nowhere  in  America  except  Tarpon  Springs. 
The  church  is  packed.  After  the  celebration  of 
the  Divine  Liturgy,  the  priest  in  full  vestments 
goes  to  the  center  of  the  nave,  where  stands  a 
vessel  of  water,  which  with  solemn  chant  he  blesses. 
'Tis  the  commemoration  of  the  Baptism  of  our 
Blessed  Lord  in  Jordan,  when  by  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  were  manifested  forth  His  Deity. 
The  parishioners  are  sprinkled  with  the  holy 
water,  and  they  drink  of  it,  and  fill  bottles  to  take 
home  with  which  to  bring  blessings  on  their  houses. 
The  throng  passes  out  of  the  church  and  forms 
the  procession,  led  by  the  Tarpon  Springs  Cornet 
Band.  Next  comes  the  priest,  and  on  either  side 
of  him  (on  this  particular  date)  two  guests  of 
the  community,  priests  of  the  Anglican  Commun- 


178  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

ion,  the  rector  of  Tarpon  Springs,  and  the  Phil 
hellenic  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer, 
Brooklyn,3  who  has  traveled  all  the  way  south  to 
participate  in  this  ceremony.  Behind  them  march 
a  couple  of  Hellenes,  bearing  the  flags  of  the  two 
lands  of  the  free.  The  great  procession  moves 
down  Orange  Street  to  Safford  Avenue  and  then 
to  Tarpon  Avenue  to  the  bayou.  On  either  hand 
the  shops  and  houses  are  decked  with  greens  and 
flowers  and  flags,  and  the  public  wharf  of  the 
bayou  has  the  finest  decorations  of  any  year. 
Moving  close  to  the  edge  of  the  pier,  the  priest 
reads  the  Holy  Gospel  account  of  Our  Lord's  bap 
tism  with  the  singing  of  hymns,  while  in  his  hand 
he  carries  a  small  gutta-percha  cross  trimmed  with 
silver.  Out  in  the  water  are  boats  and  in  them 
stand  the  young  Greeks  who  have  been  chosen 
to  dive  for  the  cross.  .  .  .  Suddenly  the  band 
ceases  playing  and  the  chanting  stops,  and  the 
little  cross  goes  flying  over  the  water.  There  is 
a  great  splash  as  eight  divers  plunge  after  it. 
For  twenty  minutes  they  keep  diving.  At  last 
Stathes  Klonares,  a  "skin  diver"  of  the  Mediter 
ranean  from  Kalymos,  Turkey,  who  has  been  at 
the  bottom  for  nearly  five  minutes,  comes  up  and 
holds  aloft  the  cross,  his  face  gleaming  with 
triumph  and  reverence.  Amid  loud  applause  and 
confusion  the  procession  forms  again ;  and,  led  by 
the  victorious  diver  with  the  cross  borne  high  above 

s  The  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Lacey,  Ph.D.,  to  whom  I  am  in 
debted  for  most  of  the  materials  for  this  description. 


THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES      179 

his  head,  they  march  back  to  the  church,  where 
the  crowd  disperses. 

That  evening  you  are  taken  by  the  hospitable 
Greeks  to  the  Orpheum  Theater,  where  you  wit 
ness,  to  quote  the  programme,  a  "Second  Repre 
sentation  for  the  Greek  Ecumenical  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  by  Amateurs,  Part  I:  'The  Hero- 
dias,'  a  Tragic  Monologue.  Part  II:  'Athanasios 
Diakos,'  a  National  Drama  from  the  Great  Greek- 
Turkish  War,  in  3  acts.  Part  III :  'The  Scandal 
of  the  Community  of  Vorprassion.' '  And  the 
music  is  furnished  by  a  Greek  orchestra  of  flute, 
two  mandolins,  sautour  and  guitar. 

Or  perhaps  in  addition  to  all  the  other  hospit 
able  entertainment,  you  were  fortunate  enough  to 
be  invited  along  with  the  distinguished  guests  to 
the  Hellenic-American  Political  Club,  which  was 
entertaining  the  Pinellas  County  Commissioners. 
If  so,  you  heard  the  following  speech,  which  I 
quote  verbatim  from  the  Tarpon  Springs  Leader 
as  a  fitting  close  to  this  last  chapter  on  the  life 
of  the  immigrants,  showing  the  Greeks'  ideal  of 
American  citizenship.  It  was  the  address  of  wel 
come  by  the  k.  George  Meindanes,  president  of 
the  Greek  community. 

"There  are  rare  but  beautiful  moments  in  the  life 
of  a  man,,  the  moments  that  remind  him  of  the  higher 
and  nobler  purposes  he  is  called  to  accomplish  in  the 
long  run  of  a  lifetime.  This  is  one  of  these  moments 
that  fills  with  joy  my  heart.  And  it  is  not  only  be 
cause  I  have  seen  the  great  confluence  of  the  Greeks 


180  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

celebrating  this  memorial  day,  but  much  more  because 
I  see  our  American  fellow-citizens  to  concur  in  the  ob 
servation  of  this  day  and  share  our  joy,  and  because 
I  get  an  opportunity  to  voice  out  the  principles  on 
which  this  club  is  founded  and  around  which  its  or 
bit  is  delineated. 

"To  love  one's  country  is  the  ideal  virtue  that  en 
nobles  a  man,  and  a  true  patriot  finds  always  occasion 
to  show  his  patriotic  spirit,  regardless  as  to  whether 
his  country  is  in  a  war  or  in  time  of  peace.  His  first 
and  last  duty,  when  the  call  to  the  arms  comes,  is  to 
shed  his  blood  fighting  for  the  just  cause  of  his  coun 
try.  But  in  time  of  peace  also,  patriotism  is  as  much 
needed  for  the  country  as  ambition  for  an  individual. 
For  in  this  century  a  world-wide  and  continuous  strug 
gle  to  prevail  is  going  on,  not  only  among  the  individ 
uals,  but  even  in  a  higher  scale,  among  the  communi 
ties,  states,  and  nations,  and  a  citizen's  ambitions  and 
aspiring  to  see  the  town  in  which  he  lives,  his  state, 
and  his  nation,  not  only  thriving  and  rival  to  the  others, 
but  leading  the  way  to  the  progress  and  affluence, 
must  lend  a  willing  hand  to  its  upbuilding  and  to  the 
judicious  management  of  home  affairs.  If  my  mem 
ory  serves  me  right,  the  Athenian,  the  first  lawgiver 
that  history  speaks  of,  had  passed  in  Athens  a  law  de 
creeing  that  every  citizen  of  Athens  should  take  part 
either  with  one  political  party  or  another,  and  he  who 
remained  indifferent  was  considered  dishonest  and  a 
traitor.  And  he  was  right  about  it,  for  any  man  who 
lives  in  a  town  and  takes  no  interest  whatever  in  the 
welfare  of  it,  which  much  depends  on  its  good  or  bad 
management  of  its  affairs,  is  not  worthy  of  living. 

"It  is  true  that  all  of  us  cannot  take  part  in  this 
management  of  the  political  affairs,  yet  we  have  a 


THE  UNCONGESTED  COLONIES      181 

voice  in  it  through  our  vote,  and  we  are  instrumental 
in  the  election  of  those  who  look  after  the  public  in 
terests.  But,  gentlemen,  the  right  of  suffrage,  which 
all  the  people  all  over  the  civilized  world  enjoy,  some 
times  and  in  some  cases  resembles  a  knife  given  to  a 
kid  as  a  toy  thing  to  play  with.  It  hurts,  and  it 
hurts  awfully. 

"Therefore  I  think  the  existence  of  the  political 
clubs  to  be  indispensable,  in  order  to  educate  the 
masses  and  prevent  a  gross  wrong  in  the  use  of  the 
vote.  With  this  object  in  view  this  club  was  estab 
lished,  its  principal  aim  being  the  education  of  the 
masses,  and,  as  I  had  many  a  time  occasion  to  say, 
this  club  was  not  established  in  order  to  create  a 
faction  or  oppose  any  one,  but  to  cooperate  in  the 
upbuilding  of  the  town  and  the  state.  And  no  wrong 
doer  shall  find  harbor  in  this  club,  but  he  shall  be 
turned  willingly  over  to  the  proper  authorities  to  be 
dealt  with  by  the  law  accordingly. 

"It  is  our  earnest  desire  to  see  competent  men  hold 
their  respective  offices,  and  not  to  discourage  them  in 
their  noble  efforts. 

"On  behalf  of  the  members  of  this  club,  I  thank 
you,  gentlemen." 

And  Solon's  scion  ceased,  and  Commissioner 
S.  S.  Coachman  of  Green  Springs  made  fitting 
answer. 


XII 
AMERICA'S  DUTY 

We  have  finished  the  tale  of  the  Greek  immi 
grant  in  America.  The  two  final  chapters,  telling 
of  the  non-immigrant  Greeks  who  have  become 
famous  in  America,  have  only  an  indirect  con 
nection  with  the  subject  of  the  immigrant 
proper,  as  graphically  showing  the  possibilities  in 
the  Greek  character  under  normal  conditions. 
The  conditions  under  which  the  Greek  immigrant 
is  forced  to  struggle,  as  we  have  seen,  are  any 
thing  but  normal.  Before  leaving  him,  therefore, 
let  us  ask  and  try  to  answer  two  important  ques 
tions:  Is  this  a  permanent  migration?  And, 
what  are  we  Americans  going  to  do  about  it? 

Do  the  Greeks  stay  permanently  in  America? 
The  statement  has  been  made  more  than  once  by 
immigration  experts  as  well  as  laymen  that  they 
do  not  stay.  There  seems  to  be  an  idea,  found 
even  in  United  States  official  quarters  that  the 
Greek  comes  here,  makes  money,  and  then  goes 
home,  taking  his  money  to  Greece  forever.  Un 
fortunately  for  poor  Greece,  this  is  absolutely  the 
opposite  of  the  truth.  Probably  most  Greeks  do 
come  to  America  with  this  purpose,  but  very  few 
are  ever  able  to  accomplish  it.  The  Greek  immi 
grant  does  not  go  back,  except  for  visits;  he 
182 


AMERICA'S  DUTY  183 

comes  and  stays.  This  is  an  important  statement 
of  fact,  and  needs  to  be  emphasized  for  the  very 
reason  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  general  opinion. 
One  cause  of  this  mistaken  opinion  is  the  plain 
record  of  immigration  statistics,  which  show  a 
large  number  of  Greeks  returning  home  each  year. 
These  figures  are  perfectly  correct ;  but  the  point  is, 
such  returning  Greeks  are  off  for  a  visit  only — few 
of  these  ever  stay  in  Greece.  Then,  too,  tourists 
have  reported  that  they  frequently  run  across  in 
Greece  Greeks  that  have  returned  from  America. 
This  also  is  quite  true.  But  those  very  Greeks, 
though  perhaps  they  would  not  admit  it  even  to 
themselves,  are  in  Greece  only  temporarily;  in 
evitably  they  will  come  back  again  to  America, 
and  that  soon.  Pretty  surely  the  same  is  true  of 
the  large  majority  of  those  Greeks  who  went  back 
to  fight  in  the  Balkan  war. 

The  emigrant  from  Greece  usually  borrows 
money — a  minimum  $100,  his  passage  fare,  and 
the  law-required  sum  for  his  pocket  on  landing. 
Or  if  he  is  so  unusually  lucky  as  to  own  this  sum, 
it  probably  is  his  whole  capital.  He  reaches  the 
promised  land.  He  works  hard  to  send  back  what 
he  borrowed  and  a  good  deal  more  to  keep  those 
who  depend  on  him  at  home  from  starving.  All 
this  takes  a  number  of  years.  At  last  he  has 
saved  up  some  money,  be  it  a  hundred  or  a  thou 
sand  dollars.  He  goes  back  to  Greece  and  spends 
most  of  it.  Then,  taking  his  family  if  he  has  one, 
he  returns  to  America.  Why  does  he  return? 


184  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Simply  because  (ask  any  of  the  thousands  of 
Greeks  that  have  done  so)  a  Greek  who  has  once 
lived  in  this  country  cannot  stay  satisfied  in 
Greece.  Here  he  has  made  new  acquaintances; 
there,  after  a  prolonged  absence,  he  finds  strang 
ers.  He  discovers  that  in  Greece  his  hard-earned 
money  will  not  enable  him  to  set  up  any  kind  of 
business — business  is  carried  on  by  the  better 
classes,  not  the  peasant.  In  Greece  no  credit  is 
allowed :  credit  was  what  enabled  him  to  start  and 
keep  running  in  America.  In  fact,  American  busi 
ness  methods  will  not  fit  into  Greece  at  all.  He 
finds  himself  no  better  off  than  before  he  first  emi 
grated,  in  fact  much  worse.  And  so  it  is  that 
those  immigrants  who  in  their  disheartenment  wish 
to  go  home  to  Greece,  cannot;  and  those  who  in 
their  first  flush  of  success  do  go,  find  it  impossible 
to  stay.  This  fact  is  all  too  sadly  known  in  Greece 
and  by  the  leading  Greeks  here.  And  still  the 
homeland  Greeks,  lured  by  the  garnished  romances 
of  our  wonderland  keep  building  their  air  castles 
and  set  sail.  And  still  the  bitter  disillusionments 
breed  either  heroes  or  cynics.  Thus  far  the  mi 
gration  has  proven  irrevocable.  The  Greeks  are 
here  and  here  to  stay.  What  are  we  Americans 
going  to  do  about  it? 

The  first  thing  we  must  do  is  really  to  under 
stand  this  interesting  people,  and  to  regard  them 
not  as  mere  immigrants  from  southeastern  Europe, 
but  as  a  distinct  and  separate  race.  It  is  with 
this  object  that  this  book  has  been  written — to 


o 


AMERICA'S  DUTY  185 

encourage  a  full,  unprejudiced,  and  sympathetic 
understanding  of  our  Hellenic  fellow  citizens. 
Moreover,  it  is  very  important — more  so  with  the 
Greeks  than  with  most  nationalities — to  have  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  history  of  their  race, 
mediaeval  as  well  as  modern ;  and  also  of  the  life 
in  Greece  of  the  immigrants,  before  they  sailed  for 
America.  To  guide  the  reader  in  obtaining  this 
knowledge,  I  have  appended  a  bibliography  (Ap 
pendix  B),  carefully  selected  (for  much  inac 
curate  and  unfair  has  been  published  about  the 
Greeks).  Also  I  have  prepared  and  hope  it  will 
be  published  shortly  a  companion  volume,  giving 
this  essential  historical  background. 

Pjhilanthropically  inclined  people  ask  in  this 
way,  "What  can  we  do  to  help  the  Greek?"  This 
is  not,  however,  the  proper  question  at  all. 
Rather  they  should  ask,  "What  can  we  Americans 
do  that  the  Greek  may  be  given  a  fair  and  equal 
chance  to  help  himself?"  For  first  and  foremost 
it  is  for  Americans,  who  are  true  and  unselfish 
Americans,  to  remove  these  obstacles  which,  in  this 
land  where  all  are  supposed  to  be  free,  impede  the 
Greek's  progress.  It  is  for  us  to  cease  blaming 
the  foreigner  for  what  is  not  his  fault,  but  ours. 
Can  America  expect  the  foreigner  not  to  be  af 
fected  by  those  faults  and  failings  which  are  all 
too  common  in  Americans:  lack  of  idealism  and 
worship  of  commercialism,  laxity  in  law,  laxity  in 
morals,  laxity  in  religion — and  that,  too,  when  the 
foreigner  is  placed  in  contact  with  the  worst  side 


186  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

of  American   life   and   has   little   opportunity   to 
appreciate  the  best  side? 

Chiefest  among  all  obstacles  which  impede  his 
progress  is  the  rank  prejudice  against  the  for 
eigner  in  general,  found  especially  in  the  half  edu 
cated  and  snobbish  "middle  class"  Americans, — 
and  the  parents  or  grandparents  of  many  of  these 
latter  were  themselves  foreign  immigrants.  "The 
scum  of  the  earth,"  "the  off-scouring  of  Europe," 
are  terms  of  abuse  commonly  used  in  speaking  of 
immigrants  to-day.  With  like  appellations  Amer 
icans  used  to  dub  the  German,  the  Irish,  and 
the  Scandinavian.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  recent 
immigrants,  just  as  the  earlier  ones  were,  are  not 
the  "scum,"  uncultured  though  they  be,  but  for 
the  most  part  the  strongest,  the  bravest,  the  most 
enterprising.  However,  all  this  belongs  to  a  dis 
cussion  of  immigration  in  general — and  we  might 
go  on  thus  indefinitely.1 

i  For  the  sanest  and  most  suggestive  treatment  of  the 
problem  of  what  to  do  for  and  with  the  immigrant  in 
general,  let  me  refer  the  reader  to  the  last  chapter  in  the 
two  following  books:  "Our  Slavic  Fellow-Citizen,"  by  Prof. 
Emily  G.  Balch  (New  York,  1910),  and  "The  New  Im 
migration,"  by  Peter  Roberts,  Ph.D.  (Macmillan,  1912). 

However,  let  me  emphasize  again  that  it  is  a  wrong 
method  to  deal  with  or  study  the  immigrants  in  general. 
We  should  learn  to  distinguish  the  separate  peoples,  and 
treat  each  by  itself,  each  as  a  totally  distinct  social  phe 
nomenon,  with  a  distinct  historical  background,  which  also 
should  be  known.  This  method  is  adopted  in  the  "Report 
of  Commission  on  Eastern  Orthodox  Churches'  Immigrants" 
of  the  (Episcopal)  Department  of  New  England  (1913), 
which  all  interested  in  the  immigration  problem  should 
read.  (See  Bibliography,  Appendix  B,  IV.) 


AMERICA'S  DUTY  187 

We  have  given  various  general  and  specific  sug 
gestions  in  the  pages  of  this  book  on  how  we  ought 
to  treat  our  Greek  neighbors.  Let  us  by  way  of 
final  summary  emphasize  the  following  four,  which 
every  American  of  the  right  sort  may  do  his  part 
in  fulfilling: — 

1.  Do  your  utmost  to  remove  in  your  commu 
nity  this  un-American  and  un-Christian  prejudice 
against  the  Greek.     Treat  him  openly  yourself  as 
an  equal,  and  thus  by  your  example  others  will  be 
led  to  treat  him  as  an  equal, — for  in  very  truth 
the   average   Greek   is   the   equal   of  the   average 
American. 

2.  Honor  and  express  your  honor  for  and  seek 
to  preserve  that  pride  of  the  Greek  in  the  history 
of  his  race,  the  beauty  of  his  language,  the  cus 
toms  and  traditions  of  his  fatherland,  the  ortho 
doxy  of  his  church, — for  it  is  these  that  have  im 
planted  and  preserved  in  him  patriotism,  aspira 
tion  for  an  education,  duty  to  family,  benevolence 
for  the  afflicted,  courtesy,  temperance.     To  strive 
to  obliterate  the  ideals  of  the  fatherland  that  we 
may   turn   out    an   unadulterated   "American"   is 
worse  than  foolish.     The  right  kind  of  assimila 
tion  will  certainly  not  be  accomplished,  as  Profes 
sor  Balch  well  expresses  it,  by  the  American  say 
ing  to  the  foreigner,  "We  two  shall  be  one,  and  I 
will  be  that  one."     Let  us  rather  preserve  for  this 
transplanted  tree  the  goodly  portion  of  its  native 
soil,  and  add  to  it  that  which  is  good  in  Ameri 
canism.     The  combination  will  furnish  to  Ameri- 


188  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

can  citizenship,  nay  is  already  furnishing,  a  very 
valuable  species. 

3.  Cooperate  with  the  Greek  leaders  and  organ 
izations  in  all  schemes  of  uplift  for  the  Greeks — 
the  uplift  of  the  Greeks  is  the  raison  d'etre  of  most 
Greek  organizations.  For  example,  when  we  give 
the  use  of  our  public  school  buildings  for  Greek 
evening  schools — as  we  always  should  do — let  the 
leading  Greeks  of  the  community  decide  with  us 
the  best  courses,  methods,  and  teachers.  In  sani 
tary  reforms,  ask  the  advice  and  cooperation  of 
the  leaders — and  so  in  all  civic  reforms.  To 
ignore  utterly  the  regular  Greek  organization  in 
dealing  with  matters  which  affect  Greeks,  is  as  un 
wise  and  insulting  for  example,  as  it  is  to  invite  a 
troop  of  boy  scouts  or  a  fraternal  order  to 
participate  in  a  Memorial  Day  parade  and  ignore 
the  well  drilled  Greek  military  company  of  the 
city — a  pretty  way  to  foster  citizenship.  More 
over,  the  same  plan  should  be  followed  by  the 
United  States  and  the  state  governments  in  plan 
ning  legislation  or  reforms  that  affect  the  immi 
grant.  Let  them  take  into  confidence  and  act 
with  the  advice  and  cooperation  of  the  national 
organization  of  the  Greeks  (and  those  of  other 
foreign  peoples).  Is  it  not  foolish  to  make  long 
investigations  and  act  on  them  without  the  help 
of  those  who  know  the  conditions  best  and  are  in 
the  position  to  do  the  most  effective  work? 

5.  Finally,  that  which  really  counts  most,  as  it 
does  in  all  else, — our  personal  touch  of  man  with 


AMERICA'S  DUTY  189 

man.  Let  those  Americans  who  stand  for  that 
true  ideal  of  Americanism  which  the  Greek  ex 
pected  to  find  before  he  came  to  our  shores — that 
which  is  lofty  without  vanity,  free  without  license, 
unselfish  without  discrimination — let  such  men  and 
women  learn  to  know  their  Greek  neighbors  by 
personal  touch  and  sincere  friendship ;  and,  if 
need  arise,  by  doing  for  them  the  good  turns,  not 
of  "charity"  but  of  friendship.  Only  so  can  the 
Greeks  learn  to  value  the  ideals  of  the  true 
American. 


XIII 
FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS 

In  these  two  final  chapters  we  shall  tell  the 
stories  of  a  number  of  Greek  boys  and  men  who 
during  the  past  century  came  to  our  country,  not 
as  immigrants  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term ; 
were  brought  up  or  came  to  live  in  entirely  Ameri 
can  surroundings;  and  became  justly  famous  in 
American  life,  leaving  their  mark  on  our  nation. 
These  biographical  sketches  will  culminate  in  that 
Hellene  of  the  Hellenes  and  benefactor  of  America 
and  the  world,  Michael  Anagnos,  who  became  the 
beloved  son-in-law  of  our  great  Americans,  Dr. 
Samuel  Gridley  Howe  and  Julia  Ward  Howe. 

I  give  these  accounts,  which  have  never  before 
been  collected  and  much  of  them  never  published, 
not  only  because  of  their  historical  interest,  but 
to  show  how  splendidly  a  Greek  may  develop  if 
given  the  proper  opportunities.  Many  of  these 
Greeks  had  no  better  start  than  the  average  Greek 
immigrant  of  the  immigration  period  to  America. 
Thus  we  Americans  may  realize  what  stuff  Greeks 
are  made  of;  and  may  we  not  look  forward  to 
like  attainments  by  some  of  our  present  Greek 

fellow  citizens? 

190 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       191 

There  is  a  tradition  that  has  it — and  I  am  told 
that  a  book  has  been  written  to  prove  it — that 
Christophoros  Kolymvos  (or,  as  we  Americans 
call  him,  Columbus)  was  the  first  Greek  that 
landed  in  America.  Alas,  I  fear  that  this  tradi 
tion  is  of  mythical  orgin.  There  was  a  real  Greek, 
however,  in  the  band  of  one  of  the  earliest  dis 
coverers  of  our  continent,  and  his  name  and  auto 
graph  a  friend  of  mine  once  ran  across  in  a  stand 
ard  American  history,  but  has  been  unable  to  find 
it  again.  *I  doubt  not  that  there  were  a  number  of 
real  Greeks  early  and  late  in  the  expeditions  that 
have  come  to  our  shores  whose  names  are  lost  to 
sight.  Greeks  are  generally  to  be  found,  Odys 
seus-like,  where  there  is  any  wandering  being 
done.  In  1760  a  Greek  married  the  daughter  of 
the  governor  of  Costa  Rica,  and  named  many 
places  after  his  native  spots.  Then  in  1767  an  in 
teresting  migration  took  place.  An  uprising  in 
southern  Morea  was  feared  by  the  Turks,  so  they 
killed  the  archbishop  and  treated  other  prominent 
people  with  utmost  severity.  An  English  officer, 
John  Thornbull  happened  to  be  in  the  port  of 
Karoni  at  the  time  with  his  ship.  He  bought 
from  the  authorities  for  1200  pilasters  the  privi 
lege  of  carrying  away  a  large  number  of  Greeks, 
whom  he  took  to  Florida.  These  Greeks  were 
Mainates.  I  have  been  unable  to  discover  any 
further  traces  of  this  colony.  It  would  be  very 
interesting  to  learn  what  became  of  them  and  their 
descendants.  On  the  other  corner  of  the  future 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

United  States,  coming,  I  suppose,  by  the  back 
way  of  Behring  Strait,  landed  the  first  governor 
of  Alaska,  a  Peloponnesian  Greek  named  Eustotias 
Juanobitos  Delaref. 

Passing  now  out  of  the  mists  of  American  an 
tiquity  down  to  the  historic  times  of  the  46th  year 
since  our  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
second  since  the  Greek — 1822,  let  us  tell  the  story 
of  that  remarkable  list  of  orphans  of  the  terrible 
and  bloody  Greek  war  of  Independence  (1821- 
1828).  I  shall  mention  nine  (there  must  have 
been  others)  whose  names,  though  perhaps  now 
unknown,  were  none  the  less  worthy.  The  first 
two  mentioned  do  not,  perhaps,  properly  belong 
in  this  chapter  for  they  returned  to  Greece;  but 
I  will  not  omit  them. 

_ATgy,a^ejr  George  Paspatis  was  born  in  the 
island  of  Chios  (or  Scio)  in  1814.  After  the 
fiendish  massacre  of  the  population  by  the  Turks 
in  1822,  he  was  carried  with  the  other  captives  to 
Smyrna  and  exposed  in  the  Turkish  slave  market 
for  sale.  There  his  own  mother,  who  had  miracu 
lously  escaped  and  had  wandered  alone  up  and 
down  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  saw  him  and  bought 
him  for  the  only  two  pieces  of  money  she  had 
managed  to  save.  Charitable  Americans  em 
barked  him  on  a  ship  and  for  two  years  he  found 
a  kind  home  in  the  family  of  Marshall  P.  Wilder 
in  Boston.  He  fitted  in  the  Mt.  Pleasant  Prepar 
atory  school  and  in  1831  graduated  from  Amherst. 
Never  has  Amherst  had  a  worthier  graduate.  He 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       193 

returned  to  Europe,  took  an  extended  course  in 
medicine  at  Paris  and  Pisa,  and  for  years  was  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  practitioners  in  Con 
stantinople.  Retiring  from  practice  in  1879  he 
lived  in  Athens  till  his  death  in  1891.  The  notice 
in  the  Amherst  obituary  record  says,  "A  profound 
and  accurate  student,  he  was  an  almost  unrivalled 
authority  on  Byzantine  history  and  archeology 
and  an  eminent  glossologist.  Master  of  sixteen 
languages,  his  literary  productions  were  mostly 
given  to  the  world  in  English,  French  and  Greek." 
Both  in  Constantinople  and  Athens  he  was  a  mem 
ber  and  sometimes  founder  of  many  philanthropic 
societies  and  institutions.  "He,  with  five  other 
scholars,  planted  in  1861  the  4>iAoAoyiKo<;  'EAAr/viKos 
^u'AAoyos,  a  society  which  is  now  reckoning  its  mem 
bers  by  the  thousands  and  has  planted  nearly  two 
hundred  schools  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  and  by 
its  literary  contributions  has  acquired  a  world 
wide  fame.  He  was  always  a  devoted  member 
of  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church,  and  believed 
that  whatever  was  imperfect  therein  could  be  re 
formed  or  remedied  from  within  and  not  from  with 
out." 

Evangelides  was  the  other  war  orphan,  educated 
in  the  United  States,  that  returned.  He  opened 
a  successful  school  in  his  native  Syra  and  brought 
there  the  American  idea,  novel  to  his  compatriots, 
of  the  value  of  real  estate,  by  which  he  became 
rich.  His  neighbors  dubbed  him  the  "Greek 
Yankee."  He  was,  says  Atlantis,  Bryant's  Greek 


194  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

boy.     He  had  a  son  who  was  a  journalist  in  New 
York  for  many  years.1 

Captain  George  Musalas  Colvocoresses,  U.  S. 
N.,  was  another  survivor  of  the  massacre  of  Chios. 
His  father,  escaping  to  the  Austrian  consulate, 
was  able  to  ransom  his  family,  though  George  saw 
his  uncle  killed  and  his  aged  grandmother  beaten 
to  death  before  he  reached  safety.  He,  only  six 
years  old,  with  nine  other  Chiote  boys  was  placed 
on  board  an  American  brig  bound  for  Baltimore. 
On  the  voyage  he  was  cared  for  and  taught  Eng 
lish  by  the  mate  of  the  brig.  On  his  arrival  he 
appears  to  have  made  an  especially  good  impres 
sion  upon  the  committee  of  influential  men  who 
interested  themselves  in  these  boys,  and  Gen.  Har 
per  procured  from  President  Monroe  the  promise 
of  a  cadetship  at  West  Point  for  the  little  lad. 
Attracted  by  the  accounts  in  the  newspapers,  Capt. 
Alder  Partridge,  head  of  a  military  academy  in 
Norwich,  Vermont,  took  the  boy  and  educated  and 
provided  for  him.  Later  he  entered  the  navy, 
where  he  served  the  rest  of  his  life  with  honor.  He 
sailed  in  various  important  naval  expeditions  all 
over  the  world,  and  in  the  Civil  War  commanded 
the  U.  S.  S.  Supply  and  later  the  Saratoga,  when 
he  won  the  repeated  thanks  of  Admiral  Dahlgren 
in  general  orders  and  the  commendation  of  the 

i  This  information  is  from  Julia  Ward  Howe's  "From 
the  Oak  to  the  Olive."  She  had  known  him  in  America. 
This  book  mentions  meeting  several  of  these  American  ed 
ucated  Greeks,  and  also  our  famous  Philhellenic  priest,  Dr. 
Hill. 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       195 

Secretary  of  the  Navy  for  his  "zeal  and  good  serv 
ice  to  the  country."  In  1865  he  was  retired  with 
the  rank  of  captain  and  lived  till  his  death  in  1872 
with  his  family  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut. 

His  son,  the  present  Rear  Admiral  George 
Partridge  Colvocoresses  who  kindly  furnished  me 
with  the  information  about  his  father  and  others, 
including  a  copy  of  biographical  sketches  about 
to  be  published  in  Greek  in  the  annual  Chronicles 
of  Chios,  has  made  an  eminent  record  in  the  Navy. 
He  first  saw  service  for  two  years  in  the  Civil  War 
as  captain's  clerk  to  his  father.  In  the  Spanish 
War  he  was  executive  officer  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Con 
cord  at  the  battle  of  Manila  Bay.  Admiral  Dewey 
appointed  him  executive  officer  of  his  flagship,  and 
it  was  he  who  commanded  the  Olympiads  battalion 
in  the  several  ovations  that  welcomed  the  hero  in 
New  York,  Washington,  and  Boston.  Upon  pro 
motion  to  captain  he  was  made  commandant  of 
midshipmen  in  the  Naval  Academy.  After  forty- 
eight  years  of  active  service  he  was  retired  with 
the  rank  of  rear  admiral. 

George  jgirian,  gunner,  U.  S.  N.,  a  young  boy 
in  one  of  the  Greek  islands  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Greek  revolution,  was  set  adrift  in  a  boat  by  his 
mother  to  escape  a  band  of  Turks,  while  she  her 
self  remained  to  await  her  fate  and  attract  atten 
tion  from  the  child.  The  boat  happened  to  be 
picked  up  by  one  of  our  cruisers.  The  boy  en 
tered  the  navy  and  became  by  good  conduct  a 
warrant  officer. 


196  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

George  Marshall,  whose  daughter  Sirian  mar 
ried,  was  a  Greek  who  published  probably  the  first 
manual  of  naval  gunnery  used  in  our  service. 

Photius  Fiske  was  another  war  orphan,  who  be 
came  a  chaplain  in  the  U.  S.  Navy.  On  his  death 
he  left  a  small  bequest  for  the  anti-slavery  cause, 
some  of  which  went  to  aid  the  family  of  John 
Brown. 

Athanasius  Coloveloni  was  born  near  fated  Mes- 
solonghi  in  1815.  In  the  first  year  of  the  war 
his  father  and  family  were  slain  and  the  boy,  six 
years  old,  was  rescued  and  cared  for  by  Capt. 
Nicholson  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Ontario,  then  cruising 
in  the  Mediterranean.  He  live^d  the  rest  of  the 
ninety-two  years  of  his  life  in  Brooklyn,  and  be 
came  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  being  a  lecturer  and  organ 
izer  and  a  33rd  degree  Mason.  Like  most  of  the 
Greeks  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  he  married  an 
American. 

Colonel  Lucas  (Loukas)  Miltiades  Miller,  Mem 
ber  of  Congress  from  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  was  born 
in  Laciadia  in  1824.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Greek 
chieftain  who  was  killed  in  the  war.  Soon  after 
his  birth  his  mother  died,  and  a  woman  found  the 
baby  in  an  abandoned  town  shortly  after  a  battle 
had  taken  place  in  its  streets.  Subsequently  she 
applied  to  the  brave  American  Philhellene,  Col.  J. 
P.  Miller,  who  was  fighting  in  the  Greek  army,  for 
assistance.2  Miller  adopted  the  child,  brought 
2  Mr.  Franklin  B.  Sanborn  told  me  that  one  day  he  (Mr. 


HEAR   ADMIRAL   COT/VOCOKESSES,   U.   S.    N. 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       197 

him  to  Montpelier,  Vermont,  and  gave  him  a  home 
and  an  education.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
had  passed  his  law  examinations  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  Soon  after  the  young  lawyer  moved 
to  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  and  took  up  farming,  where 
for  the  rest  of  his  life  he  was  one  of  the  most  in 
fluential  men  of  the  city  and  state.  He  was  made 
a  colonel  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  was  elected  to 
the  52nd  Congress,  being  nominated  without  his 
knowledge  and  against  his  wishes.  In  Congress 
he  took  an  active  part  and  his  speeches  attracted 
considerable  attention.  He  died  only  seven  or 
eight  years  ago. 

Professor  John  (Joannes)  Celivergos  Zachos, 
M.  D.,3  late  curator  of  the  Cooper  Union,  New 
York,  was  born  in  Constantinople,  1820.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  "merchant  princes"  of  the 
city,  and  an  interpreter  of  the  Sultan's  court, 
ranking  in  the  diplomatic  corps  of  the  Turkish 
government.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  superior 
education  and  connected  with  the  best  Phanariote 

Sanborn)  was  calling  on  the  daughter  of  Col.  J.  P.  Miller, 
Mrs.  Keith,  in  Chicago,  and  there,  hanging  over  the  mantle- 
piece,  was  the  sword  of  Lord  Byron.  See  "History  of 
Montpelier,"  p.  289,  where  it.  is  told  that  Miller  took  the 
sword,  Dr.  Howe  the  helmet  and  Finlay,  the  historian, 
something  else  of  the  dead  poet,  as  trophies.  Col.  J.  P. 
Miller  was  one  of  the  most  famous  of  the  Americans  who 
fought  on  the  Greek  side  in  the  protracted  struggle  for 
liberty. 

s  Dr.  Zachos'  daughter,  Miss  M.  Helena  Zachos,  has 
kindly  corrected  for  this  account  of  her  father  the 
"Biographical  Cyclopedia  of  Ohio,"  vol.  6,  pp.  135-155 
(1895),  and  added  other  facts. 


198  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

families,  as  the  Mavrocordato  and  the  Ipsilanti. 
The  k.  Zachos  was  one  of  the  first  Hetairists  (the 
Greek  secret  societies  conspiring  for  freedom), 
and  at  the  opening  of  the  War  of  Independence  was 
betrayed  and  condemned  to  be  beheaded,  but  by 
a  large  bribe  managed  to  escape  with  his  family. 
He  fled  to  the  north  of  Greece,  where  he  devoted 
his  fortune  and  life  to  the  holy  cause.  He  fell  in 
an  early  battle  among  the  mountains  of  Thessaly, 
where  his  little  command  was  resisting  a  whole  army 
of  Turks.  Thus  were  left  his  wife  and  the  boy 
Joannes,  three  years  old,  and  a  baby  girl.  It  was 
the  indomitable  spirit  of  the  mother  that  brought 
the  family  and  a  large  number  of  relatives  and  de 
pendents  safely  through  the  years  of  war,  in  a 
country  harried  by  a  bloody  enemy  and  a  lawless 
soldiery  of  her  own  race.  She  always  carried 
arms  and  trained  her  retainers  and  encouraged 
them  in  the  fight.  When  dangers  pressed  too 
heavily  on  the  mainland,  she  bought  a  vessel  and 
sought  safety  among  the  islands  and  inlets  of  the 
./Egean. 

"Many  of  the  interesting  incidents  of  his  childhood 
which  Dr.  Zachos  remembered  in  his  later  years  and 
related  to  his  children  happened  while  they  were 
cruising  in  the  JSgean  Sea.  They  would  stop  occa 
sionally  at  quiet  and  safe  islands  for  food  and  water 
supplies,,  or  for  longer  stays  if  the  Turks  were  afar. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  the  two  children  were  dis 
covered  near  the  camp  with  short  white  clubs  with 
which  they  were  striking  large  white  balls  down  a  lit- 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       199 

tie  hillside.  The  horrified  nurse  discovered  that  their 
playthings  were  the  dried  and  bleached  bones  of  some 
poor  victims  of  the  war.  His  first  recollection  of 
school  was  a  very  primitive  scene.  The  school  master 
sat  under  a  large  fig  tree  with  a  group  of  small  chil 
dren  seated  before  him  in  a  semi-circle.  He  had  a 
long,  tapering  switch  with  which  he  kept  order  and 
spurred  the  inattentive  ones.  The  tree  was  laden 
with  rich  ripe  figs,  and  from  time  to  time  this  luscious 
fruit  would  drop  in  the  midst  of  the  little  school. 
Then  would  ensue  a  grabbing  and  scrambling  for  a 
few  seconds  until  the  prize  had  disappeared  into  some 
eager  mouth  and  order  was  restored  by  the  long  switch 
of  the  old  pedagogue."  * 

So  passed  the  boy's  life  until  he  was  ten  years 
old.  Soon  after  the  end  of  the  war  his  mother 
married  again,  Nikolaos  Kiliverges,  secretary  to 
President  Capodistria.  Dr.  Howe,  being  brought 
into  contact,  in  his  business  of  mercy,  with  the 
stepfather,  advised  the  kyria  Zachos  to  send  her 
boy  to  America  to  be  educated,  and  promised  to 
take  care  of  him.  Thus  Howe  himself  brought  the 
boy  to  America.  For  three  years  the  mother  paid 
all  the  expenses,  until  the  extravagant  court  life 
of  her  husband,  who  became  royal  treasurer  of 
King  Otho,  squandered  her  fortune.  For  tbe 
next  two  years  his  American  friends  paid  young 
Zachos'  expenses,  and  then  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  took  upon  himself  the  problem  of  self  support 
and  education,  at  first,  as  printer's  boy,  then  at 

*  Written  by  Miss  Zachos. 


200  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

the  Manual  Labor  College  in  Bristol,  Pennsylvania, 
and  then  at  Kenyon  College,  where  he  graduated 
in  1840.  For  three  years  and  a  half  he  studied 
medicine  at  Miami,  at  which  time  he  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Beta  Theta  Pi  fraternity.  He 
did  not,  however,  practice  his  profession,  but  took 
up  teaching,  becoming  co-principal  of  a  Young 
Ladies  Academy  in  Ohio.  In  1849  he  married 
Miss  Harriet  Canfield.  They  had  six  children. 
In  185'3  he  was  invited  by  Horace  Mann  to  a  pro 
fessorship  in  Antioch  College,  Yellow  Springs, 
Ohio.  During  the  Civil  War  he  offered  himself 
for  the  service  of  the  "Educational  Commission  of 
Boston  and  New  York,"  organized  to  send  men 
and  women  to  care  for  and  educate  the  "free  men 
of  the  South."  Next  Dr.  Zachos  was  appointed 
acting  surgeon  in  the  U.  S.  Army  and  assigned  to 
the  multifarious  duties  of  superintendency  and 
command  of  Paris  Island,  with  a  population  of 
six  hundred  negroes,  left  by  their  former  masters 
in  greatest  destitution.  After  two  years  of  this 
work  he  broke  down.  He  next  was  installed  in  the 
Unitarian  pulpit  at  West  Newton,  Massachusetts. 
In  1866  he  was  appointed  professor  of  rhetoric 
in  the  Meadville  Theological  School  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  Finally,  in  1871,  at  the  call  of  his  intimate 
friend,  Peter  Cooper,  he  became  curator  of  the 
Cooper  Union  in  New  York.  Here  Dr.  Zachos 
passed  the  last  twenty-seven  years  of  his  life  and 
found  his  greatest  field  of  labor  and  influence. 
His  talent  as  a  lecturer  on  the  public  platform 


t'/isn    ( .    A 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       201 

and  in  the  classroom  was  of  marked  value  to  this 
great  institution,  and  he  remained  its  literary  head 
to  the  day  of  his  death.  One  of  the  most  interest 
ing  sides  of  this  versatile,  scholarly,  brilliant,  big 
hearted  Greek  was  his  close  association  with  the 
literary  men  of  New  York:  Bayard  Taylor,  Wil 
liam  Cullen  Bryant,  Charles  Dana,  and  many 
others. 

JBrofesspr  Evangelinos  Apostolides  Sophocles, 
LL.D.  (I  quote  all,  except  what  is  inserted  in 
parenthesis,  from  a  memoir  in  the  records  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences)  "was 
born  in  1804  in  the  village  of  Tsangarada  in 
Thessaly  on  the  slope  of  Mount  Pelion.  His 
father's  name  was  Apostolos,  and  thus  he  obtained 
the  patronymic  Apostolides.  The  name  of  Sopho 
cles,  by  which  he  has  always  been  known  away  from 
home,  was  given  him  in  his  youth  by  his  teacher 
Gazes  as  a  compliment  to  his  scholarship.  He 
spent  his  childhood  in  his  Thessalian  home.  While 
still  a  boy  he  accompanied  his  uncle  to  Cairo, 
where  he  spent  several  years  in  the  branch  of  the 
Sinaitic  monastery  of  St.  Catherine  (of  which  his 
uncle  was  Hegumen),  visiting  also  the  principal 
monastery  on  Mt.  Sinai  itself.  He  returned  to 
Thessaly  in  1820,  where  he  remained  a  year  at 
school,  chiefly  studying  Greek  classic  authors,  un 
der  the  instruction  of  several  teachers  of  repute, 
especially  Anthimos  Gazes,  who  had  been  twenty- 
five  years  in  Vienna.  The  breaking  out  of  the 
Greek  Revolution  in  1821  closed  this  school,  and 


202  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

Sophocles  returned  to  the  monastery  of  Cairo. 
After  a  few  years  he  left  the  Sinaitic  brotherhood 
on  the  death  of  his  uncle,  and  became  again  a 
pupil  of  Gazes  at  Syra,  where  he  became  ac 
quainted  with  the  Rev.  Josiah  Brewer,  a  mission 
ary  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
who  invited  him  to  go  to  the  United  States,  and  by 
the  advice  of  Gazes  the  invitation  was  accepted. 

"Sophocles  arrived  at  Boston  in  1828  and  put 
himself  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Colton  of  Monson, 
Massachusetts.  In  1829  he  entered  as  freshman 
at  Amherst  College,  but  remained  only  a  part  of 
one  year.  He  afterwards  lived  at  Hartford  and 
New  Haven.  All  his  earlier  works  were  published 
at  Hartford,  where  at  one  time  he  taught  mathe 
matics.  In  1842  he  came  to  Harvard  College  as 
tutor  in  Greek,  and  remained  till  1845.  He  re 
turned  in  1847  to  take  the  same  office.  Since  that 
time  the  college  apartment  in  which  he  died,  No.  2 
Holworthy,  was  his  only  home"  (serving  as  dining 
room  and  kitchen  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  as 
well  as  lodging  and  study.  In  1859  he  was  made 
assistant  professor  of  Greek;  and  in  1860  a  new 
professorship  of  Ancient,  Byzantine,  and  Modern 
Greek  was  created  for  him,  which  he  continued  to 
fill  until  his  death  in  1883.  This  professorship 
has  since  been  abolished.  He  received  the  honor 
ary  degree  of  A.M.  from  Yale  and  Harvard,  and 
that  of  LL.D.  from  Western  Reserve  and  Har 
vard. 

(He  published  a  number  of  grammatical  books, 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       203 

but  his  great  work  was  the  "Greek  Lexicon  of  the 
Roman  and  Byzantine  Periods  from  B.  C.  146  to 
A.  D.  1100."  This  tremendous  work  of  1187 
pages  gives  reference  to  500  authors,  not  including 
those  referred  to  of  earlier  periods. 

(Countless  are  the  amusing  anecdotes  told  at 
Harvard  of  this  eccentric,  cynical,  soft-hearted, 
monk-like  scholar,  who  seemed  to  belong  to  another 
age:  his  withering  sarcasm  in  asking  questions  in 
the  classroom ;  his  total  disregard  for  the  usual 
methods  of  teaching ;  his  love  for  children ;  his 
devotion  to  his  chickens.  These  last  he  kept  in 
a  pen  within  hearing  distance  of  his  room.  He 
had  a  name  for  each  beloved  hen  or  rooster,  often 
the  names  of  his  good  friends  of  the  elite  Cam 
bridge  circles.  One  day  Anagnos  was  dining  with 
him  in  his  room.  A  hen  was  heard  to  cackle,  and 
Sophocles  looking  at  Anagnos  observed,  "That's 
Eliza" — named  after  Mrs.  Apthorpe.) 

"Professor  Sophocles,"  continues  the  memoir  of 
the  Academy,  "was  a  scholar  of  extraordinary  at 
tainments.  His  knowledge  of  the  Greek  literature 
in  its  whole  length  and  breadth  could  hardly  be 
surpassed,  and  he  had  much  rare  and  profound 
erudition  on  many  points  on  which  western  scholar 
ship  is  most  weak.  On  the  other  hand  he  treated 
the  classic  philology  of  Germany  with  neglect,  if 
not  with  contempt,  and  he  never  learned  German 
so  as  to  read  it  with  facility.  But  many  things 
which  are  found  in  the  works  of  German  scholars 
came  to  Sophocles  independently.  He  showed 


204  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

little  or  no  sympathy  with  the  attempts  to  resus 
citate  the  ancient  forms  of  Greek  in  the  literary 
language  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Greece;  indeed, 
for  this  indifference,  and  for  his  general  lack  of 
interest  in  the  progress  of  Greece  since  the  Revolu 
tion,  he  was  often  censured  by  his  fellow  country 
men.  But  much  of  this,  as  well  as  much  of  his 
show  of  indifference  to  the  ordinary  calls  of 
humanity,  was  a  part  of  his  habitual  cynicism, 
which  was  quite  as  much  affected  as  real.  While 
he  refused  to  take  part  in  the  ordinary  charities, 
he  was  really  in  his  own  way  one  of  the  most 
benevolent  of  men ;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
there  was  another  man  in  our  community  whose 
gifts  bore  so  large  a  proportion  to  his  personal 
expenses.  Many  are  the  poor  who  will  miss  his 
unostentatious  benevolence  now  that  he  is  gone. 

"Though  he  took  little  interest  in  any  religious 
questions,  he  always  remained  faithful  in  name  to 
the  Greek  Church  in  which  he  was  born.  In  later 
years  he  renewed  his  relations  with  the  monks  of 
Mount  Sinai;  and  as  his  strength  failed,  he  wan 
dered  back  more  and  more  in  his  thoughts  to  the 
Sacred  Mountain.  The  monastery  of  St.  Cath 
erine  was  enriched  by  more  than  one  substantial 
present  by  his  kindness ;  and  the  pious  monks 
offered  solemn  prayers  on  Mount  Sinai  daily  for 
his  recovery  from  his  last  sickness,  and  sent  him 
their  congratulations  by  Atlantic  cable  on  his 
saint's  day.  Now  that  he  has  left  us,  we  feel  that 
a  bond  is  suddenly  broken  which  connected  us  with 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       205 

a  world  which  lies  beyond  our  horizon.  Such  a 
phenomenon  as  Sophocles  is  indeed  rare  in  our 
academic  circles,  and  we  feel  that  it  was  a  privilege 
to  have  him  among  us." 

Since  the  war  time  there  have  come  to  our 
shores  a  number  of  Greek  gentlemen,  who,  though 
all  may  not  be  entitled  to  the  distinction  of  famous, 
yet  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  Thus  before  we 
relate  the  story  of  that  greatest  of  American- 
Hellenes,  Michael  Anagnos,  let  us  make  mention 
of  some  of  these. 

George  Constantine,  born  at  Athens,  1833,  came 
to  America  in  1850,  and  graduated  from  Amherst 
in  1859,  and  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in 
1862.  The  rest  of  his  life,  until  his  death  in 
1892,  was  spent  in  Athens  and  Smyrna  as  a  Prot 
estant  missionary — a  sincere  and  devoted  work  in 
a  wrong  cause. 

^Michael  Kalopathakes,  1825-1905,  came  to 
America  and  was  graduated  at  the  Union  Theolog 
ical  Seminary  and  also  took  a  course  in  medicine ; 
and  then  returned  to  Greece  as  a  Protestant  mis 
sionary.  He  was  steadfast  to  his  mistaken  ideal ; 
and  perhaps  his  steadfastness  had  a  salutary  in 
fluence  upon  the  Orthodox  Church.  He  helped 
Dr.  Howe  during  the  Cretan  War  of  '66-'68. 
His  son,  Demetrius,  now  at  Athens,  is  an  accom 
plished  scholar,  graduate  of  Harvard,  Ph.D.  of 
Berlin,  correspondent  of  the  London  Times  and 
the  Nation. 

Professor  Andrew  C.  Zenos,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the 


206  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

present  professor  of  Biblical  Theology,  McCor- 
mick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago ;  former  pro 
fessor  in  Lake  Forest  University  and  in  Hartford 
Theological  Seminary,  born  in  Constantinople 
in  1855,  is  a  well  known  scholar.  Among  many 
other  works  he  translated  and  annotated  Socrates, 
"Ecclesiastical  History"  for  Shaff's  "Post  Nicene 
Fathers." 

^John  M.  Rodonaki  of  Smyrna  came  to  America 
in  1850  and  was  consul  in  Boston  for  twenty- two 
years.  He  was  a  respected  merchant  and  a  prom 
inent  Mason.  He  bequeathed  most  of  his  estate 
to  the  Boston  Art  Museum. 

And  we  might  mention  others,  more  or  less  well 
known,  who  are  still  living  and  in  America :  as 
Consul-General  Botassv  of  a  Spetzian  family 
famous  for  its  admirals,  who  came  to  New  York  in 
1859  and  has  grown  old  in  the  Greek  diplomatic 
service;  Theodore  B.  Ion,  D.  C.  L.,  former  pro 
fessor  of  Law  in  Boston  University,  writer  on  in 
ternational  law  and  Turkish  literature;  TV.T. 
Tjmayenis^  former  teacher  and  historical  writer 
and  translator;  Denietra  Vaka  (Mrs.  Kenneth 
Brown),  formerly  on  the  staff  of  Atlantis,  author 
and  collaborator  with  her  American  husband  of 
the  wild  and  woolly  tales,  "Haremlik,"  "The 
Duke's  Price,"  "In  the  Shadow  of  Islam,"  etc.; 
Mrs.  Julia  D.  Dragoumis,  author  of  "Tales  from 
a  Greek  Island,"  publisFed  first  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly;  and  Mrs.  Seraphim  G.  Canoutas, 
scholar,  musician,  and  writer,  nee  Euphrosyne 


FAMOUS  AMERICAN-GREEKS       207 

Paleologos,  scion  of  the  house  of  the  last  of  the 
Byzantine  emperors. 

Then  there  are  a  number  of  names  we  might  re 
peat,  dating  from  1850  to  the  present,  of  that 
class  of  wealthy  and  cultivated  Greek  gentlemen, 
directors  in  New  York,  Boston,  and  elsewhere  of 
the  great  Greek  commercial  houses:  as  the  world- 
famed  Ralli  Brothers,5  Choremi  and  Benaki,  Live- 
rato  Brothers,  etc.  This  class  of  Greeks  is  found 
the  world  over.  These  gentlemen  live  like  Ameri 
cans  and  move  in  the  best  American  society;  and 
yet  they  are  taking  the  lead  at  the  present  day  in 
the  noble  work  for  the  protection  and  uplift  of 
their  immigrant  fellow  countrymen.  Of  this  class, 
for  example,  is  the  k.  Sinadinos,  president  since 
1910  of  the  Pan-Hellenic  Union. 

5  The  Ralli  were  originally  natives  of  Chios.  The  firm 
was  founded  in  1860,  and  is  now  supposed  to  be  the  largest 
commercial  house  in  the  world.  The  headquarters  are  in 
London.  Five  years  ago  they  had  fifty  branches  in  the 
United  States. 


XIV 
MICHAEL  ANAGNOS 

Michael  Anagnostopoulos,1  or  as  he  became 
known  to  Americans,  Anagnos,  was  born  Novem 
ber  7th,  1837,  in  a  mountain  village  of  Epiros, 
called  Papingo.  His  father  was  a  hard  working 
peasant,  who  had  lived  under  the  bloody  Ali  Pasha. 
We  may  glimpse  the  romantic  homeland  of  the 
Epirote  lad  from  Byron's  picture. 

"No  city's  towers  pollute  the  lovely  view, 

Unseen  is  Janina,  though  not  remote, 

Veiled  by  the  screen  of  hills;  here  men  are  few, 

Scanty  the  hamlet,  rare  the  lonely  cot; 

But  peering  down  each  precipice,  the  goat 

Browseth, — and  pensive  o'er  his  scattered  flock, 

The  little  shepherd  in  his  white  capote 

Doth  lean  his  boyish  form  along  the  rock, 

Or  in  his  cave  awaits  the  tempest's  short-lived  shock." 

True  Greek,  the  boy  longed  and  labored  for  an 
education.  He  began  in  the  little  village  school 
and  used  to  pore  over  his  lessons  as  he  tended  his 
father's  flocks  on  the  mountain  side,  or  in  the 
evening  by  the  light  of  a  pine  torch.  As  he  grew 

1  Compiled  entirely  from  the  155  page  Memoir  of  Anag 
nos,  published  in  1907,  the  year  after  his  death,  by  the 
Perkins  Institution  and  Massachusetts  School  for  the  Blind. 

See  Frontispiece   (Portrait  of  Anagnos)   of  our  book. 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  209 

older,  to  support  himself  he  also  taught  in  his 
spare  hours.  His  teacher  advised  him  to  go  to 
Janina  and  try  for  a  scholarship  in  the  Zozimaea 
School.  So  one  day  he  took  his  shepherd's  stick 
and  his  little  pack,  containing  only  dry  bread,  and 
marched  for  sixteen  hours  through  rain  and  storm 
to  the  famous  Epirote  capital.  Passing  among 
the  first,  he  was  aided  by  the  great  teacher  Anas- 
tasios  Sakellarion.  As  he  was  too  poor  to  buy 
text  books  he  used  to  copy  them  out  by  hand.  At 
last  his  gymnasium  course  was  worked  through, 
and  he  achieved  his  longing  by  entering  the  Uni 
versity  of  Athens.  Of  the  struggles  at  the 
university  writes  his  Boston  sister-in-law,  Mrs. 
Florence  Howe  Hall,  "I  have  heard  him  tell  the 
story  of  four  students  who  lived  together  at  Athens 
and  possessed  only  one  good  coat  among  them,  so 
that  they  were  obliged  to  take  turns  in  going  out. 
I  have  always  suspected  that  he  was  one  of  the 
devoted  quartette."  He  worked  his  way  by  teach 
ing  languages  and  reading  proof.  He  took  his 
B.  A.  in  philology,  and  also  studied  law.2 

In  1861  Anagnos  joined  the  staff  of  the  Ethno- 
phylax  (National  Guard),  the  first  daily  paper  of 
Athens,  writing  criticisms  and  translations  and 
then  political  essays,  and  was  shortly  made  editor- 
in-chief  at  the  age  of  24.  This  paper  was  started 

2  His  friend,  Mr.  Frank  B.  Sanborn,  in  a  speech  at  the 
Memorial  exercises  (see  "Memoir,"  page  107),  gives  a  de 
tailed  account  of  his  university  courses,  taken  from  the 
actual  certificates  of  the  professors:  Greek,  Latin,  history, 
mathematics,  science,  philosophy,  etc. 


210  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

to  advocate  popular  rights  against  the  oppressive 
government  of  King  Otho.  Our  youthful  hero 
was  one  of  the  most  active  in  this  opposition,  even 
going  so  far  as  to  be  instrumental  in  introducing, 
through  General  Garibaldi  and  one  of  his  sons, 
lodges  of  Free  Masonry  by  the  Scottish  Rite  as 
an  element  in  the  coming  dethronement  of  the  Ba 
varian  monarch.  Twice  he  was  put  into  prison. 
His  ardent  share  in  the  bloodless  revolution  of 
1862  Anagnos  in  his  later  years  spoke  of  with  re 
gret.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Cretan  Revolution 
in  1866  Anagnos  enlisted  his  pen  in  the  cause  of 
the  devoted  island ;  but  his  fellow  editors  of  the 
EtlinopTiylax  disagreed  with  him,  and  he  resigned. 

Then  it  was  that  our  great  American,  Dr.  Howe, 
whom  as  yet  Anagnos  knew  only  by  his  former 
fame  as  a  Philhellene,  came  to  Greece  to  help  the 
Cretans,  and  desiring  to  find  a  Greek  secretary 
who  should  act  with  him  in  the  work  of  the  relief, 
was  directed  to  the  young  ex-editor.  He  at  once 
engaged  him  and  left  him  part  of  the  time  in 
charge  of  the  committee's  affairs,  while  he  himself 
visited  schools,  prisons  and  hospitals  of  Europe. 
As  a  reason  for  Dr.  Howe's  selection  of  Anagnos, 
Mr.  Sanborn  writes,  "He  had  the  strong,  sincere 
qualities  of  the  Epirote  Greek,  brought  up  in  the 
simplicity  of  rural  life  and  able  to  resist  the  temp 
tations  to  intrigue  and  commercialism  which  beset 
the  Phanariot  and  Peloponnesian  Greek." 

When  Dr.  Howe  returned  to  Boston,  he  per 
suaded  his  Athenian  secretary  to  accompany  him 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  211 

and  continue  in  the  work  of  the  Cretan  Committee 
in  New  England.  Finding  him  well  qualified  to 
teach,  Dr.  Howe  gave  him  the  task  of  teaching 
Latin  and  Greek  in  the  Perkins  Institution  to  the 
few  blind  pupils  who  in  1868  had  pursued  their 
studies  that  far ;  and  also  made  him  private  tutor 
of  his  family.  A  year  or  two  later  he  promoted 
his  tutor's  wish  to  become  Greek  professor  in  some 
western  American  college,  writing  in  a  letter  of 
recommendation,  "He  is  capable  of  filling  the  post 
in  any  of  our  universities  with  honor."  8 

Yet  so  had  the  young  Greek  won  the  affections 
of  the  Howe  family  that  when  the  time  for  separa 
tion  had  come  Dr.  Howe  could  not  part  with  him, 
but  placed  him  in  a  permanent  position  in  the 
Perkins  Institution,  and  late  in  1870  gave  him  the 
hand  of  his  daughter,  Julia  Romana.  She,  worthy 
scion  of  Samuel  Griclley  and  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
was  "a  woman  of  ideally  beautiful  character  and 
deeply  interested  in  her  father's  work  for  the 
blind."  For  fifteen  years  they  spent  a  happy, 
though  childless  life  together,  till  she  died  in  1886. 
The  last  words  of  Mrs.  Anagnos  were:  "Take 
care  of  the  little  blind  children." 

After  1870,  the  increasing  years  and  infirmity 
of  the  great  founder  of  the  Perkins  Institution 

s  Prof.  Manatt  ("Memoir,"  p.  117),  says,  "Had  Anagnos 
taken  up  the  work  of  a  Greek  chair  in  this  country  and 
applied  to  it  the  same  broad  and  inclusive  view  of  education 
which  he  brought  to  bear  on  his  problems  at  South  Boston, 
I  cannot  but  believe  that  Greek  studies  would  fare  bet 
ter  among  us  to-day." 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

for  the  Blind  made  it  necessary  that  Mr.  Anagnos 
be  placed  more  and  more  in  general  charge  of 
affairs,  and  so  he  became  intimately  familiar  with 
every  part  of  the  establishment  and  its  methods 
and  ideals.  Thus  when  Dr.  Howe  died  in  1876, 
he  was  the  only  candidate  seriously  considered  as 
his  successor,  "although,"  says  Mr.  Sanborn, 
"there  was  some  question  in  the  minds  of  some 
trustees  how  a  native  of  Turkey  and  a  subject 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Greece  would  succeed  in  the 
whole  management  of  a  Bostonian  institution  so 
peculiarly  dependent  on  the  liberality  of  the  good 
people  of  Massachusetts,  and  particularly  of  Bos 
ton.  The  result  of  his  administration  (which 
lasted  30  years)  soon  solved  that  question.  Every 
branch  of  the  administration  had  already  begun 
to  feel  the  youthful  energy  and  mature  wisdom 
of  the  new  director."  Writes  the  acting  director 
in  his  report  after  Anagnos'  death: 

"Trained  by  intimate  relations  with  the  great  father 
of  the  work  in  this  country,  Dr.  Howe,  Mr.  Anagnos 
saw  clearly  that  the  methods  and  principles  used  by 
Dr.  Howe  were  in  the  main  correct,  and  with  that 
complete  lack  of  conceit  and  entire  absence  of  any 
sense  of  his  own  importance,  as  great  as  it  was  rare 
and  as  rare  as  it  was  beautiful,  he  set  himself  to  the 
task  of  carrying  out  the  great  work  his  predecessor 
had  left  uncompleted,  and  for  three  decades  has  la 
bored  faithfully  and  brought  this  great  work  to  a 
state  of  efficiency  that  is  known  and  admired  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic." 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  213 

One  of  his  first  acts  was  the  promotion  of  a 
fund  of  $100000  for  books  for  the  blind,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  printing  department ;  six  years 
later  every  public  library  in  Massachusetts  had 
been  furnished  with  these  books.  Seconded  by  his 
devoted  wife,  he  founded  the  kindergarten  in 
Jamaica  Plain  for  little  blind  children  under  nine. 
This  beautiful  work  is  his  especial  monument. 
Soon  another  $100000  endowment  was  raised,  and 
for  many  years  he  was  weighed  with  the  handling 
each  year  of  over  half  a  million  dollars.  He  gave 
special  attention  and  study  to  the  perfection  of 
the  physical  training  department  and  to  the  train 
ing  of  the  blind  in  self-supporting  trades  and 
occupations. 

In  none  of  the  deeds  of  his  life  did  that  tender 
ness  of  heart  and  sympathy  for  his  fellow  men 
that  were  ever  the  chief  motive  forces  of  his  char 
acter,  appear  more  conspicuously  than  in  his  work 
for  the  deaf-blind — a  work  small  in  numbers,  but 
in  proportion  to  the  completeness  of  the  emanci 
pation,  tremendous  in  achievement.  He  had  be 
come  familiar  with  the  famous  education  by  Dr. 
Howe  of  Laura  Bridgman,  Oliver  Caswell  and 
others,  and  in  carrying  on  a  like  work  he  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  world  in  some  respects  even 
more  than  did  the  cases  of  his  predecessor.  The 
fame  of  his  success  in  the  cases  of  Helen  Keller, 
Thomas  Stringer,  Elizabeth  Robin,  and  others  of 
the  blind-deaf  has  gone  round  the  world.  I  can 
not  refrain  from  retelling  the  story  of  one  case 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

(the  others  are  equally  miraculous)  in  the  words 
of  Mr.  Sanborn: 


"About  sixteen  years  ago  in  a  hospital  in  the  city 
of  Pittsburgh  a  pitiful  case  was  brought  to  light.  A 
little  boy,  deaf  and  blind,  was  sent  there  for  treat 
ment.  His  parents  were  too  poor  to  pay  for  his 
maintenance  in  any  institution,  and  a  number  of  ap 
peals  were  sent  to  institutions  and  individuals  in  his 
behalf,  but  without  avail.  Finally  the  case  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  Anagnos.  In  the 
helpless,  almost  inanimate  little  lump  of  clay  that 
was  brought  to  his  doors,  he  saw  the  likeness  of  a 
human  soul,  and  immediately  took  measures  to  bring 
about  its  development  and  unfolding.  So  the  little 
stranger  entered  the  Kindergarten  for  the  Blind  in 
1891;  a  special  teacher  was  provided  for  him;  and 
the  education  of  Thomas  Stringer  had  begun.  The 
sightless,  voiceless,  seemingly  hopeless  little  waif  of 
1891  has  now  developed  into  the  intelligent,  sturdy, 
fine  appearing  young  man  of  1906,  who,  in  his  bene 
factor's  own  words,  'is  strong  and  hale,  and  who 
thinks  acutely,  reasons  rationally,  judges  accurately, 
acts  promptly,  and  works  diligently.  He  loves  truth 
and  uprightness  and  loathes  mendacity  and  deceitful- 
ness.  He  appears  to  be  absolutely  unselfish  and  is 
very  grateful  to  his  benefactors.  His  is  a  loyal  and 
self-poised  soul — affectionate,  tender,  and  brave.  He 
enjoys  the  tranquillity  of  innocence  and  the  blessings 
of  the  pure  in  heart.  He  is  honorable,  faithful, 
straightforward,  and  trustworthy  in  all  his  relations. 
He  is  not  only  happy  and  contented  with  his  environ 
ment,  but  seems  to  dwell  perpetually  in  the  sunlight 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  215 

of  entire  confidence  in  the  probity  and  kindness  of  his 
fellow  men.' 

"The  above  is  a  just  picture  of  the  results  thus  far 
attained  in  the  case  of  Thomas  Stringer,  and  in  the 
closing  sentence  the  writer  unwittingly  gave  utterance 
to  his  own  highest  praise,,  for  if  this  deaf -blind  boy 
'dwells  continually  in  the  sunlight  of  entire  confidence 
in  the  probity  and  kindness  of  his  fellow  men/  it  is 
because  he  has  known  naught  but  perfect  probity  and 
absolute  kindness  on  the  part  of  the  man,  who,  amid 
the  multifarious  cares  involved  in  the  conduct  of  a 
great  institution,  yet  found  time  to  take  this  stricken 
waif  into  his  heart  and  love  him! — who  found  time 
to  be  father,  guardian,  and  friend! — and  year  after 
year,  by  voice  and  pen  to  plead  his  cause  with  a  gen 
erous  public,  and  so  provide  for  the  child's  future 
security  when  his  guardian  should  have  passed  from 
the  scene." 

Here  is  the  testimony  of  one  blind  graduate, 
Lydia  Y.  Hayes,  on  learning  of  Anagnos'  death: 

"...  I  have  always  wished  for  literary  ability, 
but  never  so  much  as  now,  when  I  desire  to  express 
what  Mr.  Anagnos  has  been  to  one  graduate  of  the 
school.  Then  multiply  that  by  every  life  which  his 
life  has  touched,  and  you  have  the  result  of  his  influ 
ence  in  the  world.  His  strength  comforted  our  weak 
ness,  his  firmness  overcame  our  wavering  ideas,  his 
power  smoothed  away  our  obstacles,  his  noble  unself 
ishness  put  to  shame  our  petty  differences  of  opinion, 
and  his  untiring  devotion  led  us  to  do  our  little  as 
well  as  we  could.  .  .  .  Better  than  all,  he  taught  us 
to  be  men  and  women  in  our  own  homes  and  to  the 
best  of  our  ability." 


216  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

And  here  is  how  his  subordinates  regarded  him 
(from  the  report  of  the  acting  director)  : 

"The  relation  of  Mr.  Anagnos  to  his  associates  was 
in  itself  a  beautiful  thing.  He  asked  for  no  comforts 
of  living  that  his  associates  did  not  enjoy.  He  de 
manded  of  his  helpers  no  greater  length  of  hours  or 
hardships  of  service  than  he  took  upon  himself.  Each 
morning  he  met  his  teachers  at  chapel  and  gave  every 
one  a  hearty  greeting  and  a  cheery  smile  that  lighted 
up  their  path  throughout  the  day.  He  would  never 
have  any  praise  for  himself,  but  how  often  in  these 
pages  and  by  spoken  word  has  he  shown  his  appre 
ciation  of  their  efforts,  and  assigned  them  all  the 
credit  for  the  work  done  here.  And  this  was  genu 
ine  !  It  rang  true !  And  his  helpers  for  the  most  part 
did  their  best,  out  of  interest  in  their  work  and  the 
loyalty  that  he  inspired." 

One  of  the  last  reports  of  this  great  educator 
of  the  blind  closes  with  the  following  words : 

"Encouraged  by  the  achievements  of  the  past,  we 
take  up  hopefully  the  duties  of  another  year,  firmly 
resolved  to  carry  forward  this  beneficent  enterprise 
until  we  reach  the  shining  goal  at  which  we  aim, 
namely,  the  illumination  by  education  of  the  mind  and 
life  of  every  child  whose  eyes  are  closed  to  the  h'ght 
of  day.  We  are  aware  that  the  path  of  progress 
which  we  have  chosen  to  pursue  is  full  of  difficulties; 
but  let  us  keep  our  faces  always  towards  the  sunshine, 
and  the  shadows  will  fall  behind  us." 

Several  times  Anagnos  visited  Europe  to  travel 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  217 

about  and  study  the  institutions  for  the  defective, 
and  to  visit  his  relatives  in  enslaved  Greece  and 
investigate  the  educational  possibilities  of  its  op 
pressed  compatriots.  He  was  present  in  Paris  in 
1900  at  the  International  Congress  of  teachers 
and  friends  of  the  blind  in  the  double  capacity  of 
representing  his  own  institution  and  also  commis 
sioned  to  represent  the  United  States  government. 
Though  he  finally  became  a  citizen  of  his 
adopted  country,  yet,  just  as  every  other  Greek 
settled  in  a  foreign  country,  so  Anagnos  remained 
to  the  end  intensely  interested  in  the  progress  of 
his  native  land,  and  made  various  generous  dona 
tions  to  the  cause  of  Greek  education,  and  left  a 
like  bequest  in  his  will.  The  epilogue  of  one  dona 
tion  of  $25000  deposited  in  the  National  Bank 
of  Athens  towards  the  support  of  schools  in  his 
native  Papingo  reads : 

"Having  lived  for  many  years  in  foreign  countries, 
neither  in  sorrow  nor  in  happiness  have  I  ever  for 
gotten  my  dear  country,  but  have  always,  always  en 
couraged  her  in  her  progress  and  toward  her  happi 
ness.  My  savings,  earned  after  many  years  of  hard 
work,  I  throw  on  her  soil  with  great  joy,  in  order 
that  it  may  produce,  as  I  hope,  the  very  best  flowers 
of  Greek  education  and  development,  which  means 
the  civilization  of  this  small  corner  of  Epiros  where  I 
first  saw  the  light  of  day  and  into  whose  soul  I  wish 
to  pour  light." 

Moreover  Anagnos  did  his  utmost  for  the  cause 
of  his  immigrant  brethren  in  America.  He  moved 


£18  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

freely  among  the  Greeks  of  the  Boston  community, 
frequenting  their  restaurants  and  coffee  houses, 
helping  many  a  recent  immigrant  to  get  a  foot 
hold,  contributing  freely  to  the  Greek  Church  in 
Boston  and  elsewhere,  officiating  as  chief  speaker 
at  the  celebration  of  the  Greek  Day  of  Independ 
ence.  At  one  time  he  was  the  president  of  the 
Boston  community,  and  as  we  mentioned  before, 
he  was  the  founder  and  president  of  the  National 
Union  of  Greeks  in  the  United  States,  which  so 
ciety,  though  defunct  after  his  death,  was  the  fore 
runner  of  the  present  Pan-Hellenic  Union. 

In  1906  Anagnos  sailed  for  Europe,  and  after 
visiting  Athens,  of  whose  progress  he  wrote  en 
thusiastically,  and  being  present  at  the  Olympic 
games,  he  traveled  leisurely  through  Turkey  where 
he  was  saddened  by  the  oppression  of  his  people 
and  his  course  was  followed  by  Turkish  spies.  He 
proceeded  through  Servia  and  Roumania.  There 
a  disease  of  long  standing  returned  upon  him.  He 
underwent  an  operation,  and  died  under  the  sur 
geons'  hands  at  Turn  Severin,  a  frontier  town 
of  Roumania,  June  29th,  1906.  His  body  was 
taken  to  his  natal  village  in  Epiros  and  buried 
there. 

"Roses  white  and  red,  with  lilies  and  pale  im 
mortelles,  clustered  lovingly  yesterday  around  the 
portrait  of  Michael  Anagnos  as  it  stood,  taper-lit, 
in  the  chancel  of  the  Greek  Church  at  the  corner 
of  Kneeland  and  Tyler  Streets";  so  writes  the 
Boston  Herald  of  July  16th,  1906.  "Two  hours 

V 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  £19 

were  there  given  by  the  Greek  colony  of  Boston 
to  the  memory  of  their  revered  compatriot,  and 
for  a  considerable  portion  of  that  time  his  praises 
were  spoken  in  the  language  which  he  loved  so 
well.  The  interior  of  the  church  had  been  heavily 
draped  for  the  occasion.  The  symbols  of  woe 
were  almost  forgotten  in  the  presence  of  many 
floral  offerings,  which  included  wreaths  from  the 
Greek  Union  (Helleniki  Kinotis)  of  which  the  de 
ceased  was  president,  the  St.  Peter's  Club  (Agius 
Petrius),  the  Ladies'  Greek  Society,  and  the 
Vassara  Union." 

And  the  Lowell  Evening  Citizen  of  the  same 
date: 

"Memorial  services  were  held  yesterday  in  the 
Greek  church  for  the  late  Michael  Anagnos,  president 
of  the  Greek  Union  in  America,  who  died  recently  in 
Roumania.  These  services  were  held  under  the  aus 
pices  of  the  local  Greek  community,  and  George  Gou- 
zoules  and  Dr.  Vrahnos,  also  an  officer,  delivered  ad 
dresses.  Rev.  Fr.  Ambrosios  Paraschakes  conducted 
the  services,  which  were  of  an  order  very  curious  for 
our  American  eyes,  but  along  customary  Greek  lines. 
The  priest  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  church  and  all 
the  faithful  stood  around  him  in  a  circle,  each  bearing 
a  lighted  taper.  Upon  a  table  at  his  right  stood  two 
jars  full  of  wheat,  and  surmounted  with  a  large  floral 
wreath.  The  choir  stationed  beyond  the  crowd  at  one 
end  of  the  church  chanted  responses  to  the  priest's 
singing  of  funeral  hymns.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
service  the  wheat  was  distributed  to  those  present  to 


220  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

keep  in  commemoration  of  the  deceased.  The  wreath 
which  figured  in  the  service  will  be  sent  to  Mrs.  Julia 
Ward  Howe." 

The  Boston  Evening  Herald  of  the  same  date 
printed  a  tribute  to  the  great  Greek  in  America 
by  the  k.  T.  T.  Timayenis  of  Boston,  part  of  which 
is  the  following: 

".  .  .  He  was  the  man  who  taught  the  Greeks  in 
America  to  learn  and  adopt  everything  that  is  good  in 
the  American  character,  the  only  man  whom  all  Greeks 
revered  and  implicitly  obeyed,  the  man  who  did  good 
for  the  sake  of  the  good,  the  man  who  conceived  the 
idea  of  establishing  a  Greek  school  in  Boston,  the  man 
who  expected  every  Greek  to  do  his  duty  toward  his 
adopted  country — America.  We  lost  our  teacher,  we 
lost  our  guide,  we  lost  our  friend,  the  man  on  account 
of  whom  we  all  felt  proud  to  be  born  Greeks.  May 
his  example  live  among  my  compatriots  and  may  his 
teachings  and  life  never  be  forgotten." 

The  Boston  papers  all  printed  notices  of  Anag- 
nos  in  terms  of  unmeasured  honor,  as  did  the  Greek 
papers  of  America  and  Greece;  and  countless 
letters  of  condolence  and  respect  poured  in  from 
institutions  and  leading  instructors  of  the  blind 
all  over  America  and  Europe,  and  also  from  the 
devoted  blind  graduates  of  Perkins.  The  trustees 
closed  their  annual  report  with  these  words : 
"America  has  lost  a  true  son  by  adoption,  Greece 
a  glorious  son  by  birth,  the  sightless  everywhere 
a  father,  and  humanity  a  friend." 

On  October  24th,   1906,   in   Tremont  Temple, 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS 

Boston,  exercises  in  memory  of  the  great  Greek, 
were  held  before  a  most  notable  gathering.  Gen 
eral  Francis  Henry  Appleton  presided.  The  Rev. 
Paul  Revere  Frothingham  opened  with  a  prayer; 
the  blind  school  orchestra  played,  a  choir  of  blind 
girls  sang  a  hymn ;  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  read  a 
poem ;  and  addresses  were  made  by  Governor  Guild, 
Mayor  Fitzgerald,  Mr.  Franklin  B.  Sanborn,  Pro 
fessor  J.  Irving  Manatt,  and  Bishop  Lawrence, 
and  the  benediction  was  given  by  the  Greek  priest 
of  Boston,  Fr.  Nestor  Souslides.  Here  are  a  few 
of  the  words  spoken  at  this  meeting: 

MR.  SANBORN:  "I,  who  have  seen  many  establish 
ments  directed  by  able  chiefs,  at  the  head  of  many 
subordinates,  have  never  seen  one  where  loyalty  to 
the  chief  was  more  marked  or  longer  continued.  He 
held  for  a  whole  generation  a  place  in  which  he  was 
greatly  trusted,  in  which  he  accomplished  grand  re 
sults,  and  in  which  he  was  true  to  every  trust  reposed 
in  him  .  .  .  and  he  silently  fulfilled  the  obligation 
where  many  Greeks  and  many  Americans  would  have 
spoken  in  their  own  justification." 

GOVERNOR  GUILD:  "Whatever  he  did  was  done 
well.  It  was  my  high  privilege  to  know  him  both  of 
ficially  and  as  a  personal  friend,  to  visit  and  see  him 
in  his  touching  work  among  the  little  children,  to  note 
the  kind  word  of  cheer,  the  ever  ready  flow  of  kindly 
wit  and  humor,  the  encouragement,  the  almost  divine 
patience  with  which  the  little  hands  were  guided  till 
those  that  sat  in  darkness  gradually  began  to  see  at 
last  a  great  mental  light.  .  .  .  The  name  of  Michael 
Anagnos  belongs  to  Greece;  the  fame  of  him  belongs 


222  GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

to  the  United  States;  but  his  service  belongs  to  hu 
manity  !" 

PROFESSOR  MANATT:  "The  memory  of  Dr.  Howe 
binds  old  Greece  to  young  America:  may  the  memory 
of  Michael  Anagnos  be  a  strong  bond  of  sympathy  be 
tween  his  sightless  pupils  here  and  his  young  com 
patriots  who  sit  in  deeper  darkness  over  there.  .  .  . 
It  was  a  unique  career  of  this  Greek  among  barbari 
ans.  Greeks  have  gone  round  the  world  and  in  every 
commercial  center  you  will  find  great  Greek  mer 
chants  and  bankers;  now  and  then  a  Greek  scholar 
like  Sophocles  at  Harvard  or  a  man  of  letters  like 
Bikelas  in  France;  but  where,  in  the  whole  history  of 
Greece,  will  you  find  another  Greek  who  in  a  foreign 
land  has  achieved  a  career  in  the  service  of  humanity 
comparable  to  the  career  of  Anagnos  in  America? 
And  what  rarer  reciprocity  of  service  ever  bound  two 
lands  together!  While  we  recall  ancient  worthies, 
let  us  not  forget  this  pair  of  Plutarch's  men  (Howe 
and  Anagnos)  who  have  dwelt  among  us  in  the 
flesh." 

BISHOP  LAWRENCE:  "We  in  America  are  a  little 
jealous,  are  we  not,  of  the  love  and  loyalty  which  some 
of  those  who  come  to  us  show  toward  their  old  home 
and  nation?  We  want  them  to  become  fully,  and 
completely,  and  suddenly,  American.  Are  we  right 
in  this?  Is  it  not  the  fact  that  a  transplanted  tree 
grows  better  when  with  it  comes  a  great  clod  of  its 
native  earth  to  nourish  and  support  it  until  its  roots 
are  thrust  into  the  new  soil?  Is  it  not  well  that  im 
migrants  sustain  and  nourish  the  memory  of  their  old 
traditions  and  home  associations,  and  was  it  not  one 
of  the  finer  features  of  Mr.  Anagnos  that  while  he 
gave  himself  to  the  work  in  this  land,  he  so  loved  his 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS 

native  people  that  he,  both  in  his  life  and  death,  gave 
an  endowment  and  education  to  them  and  their  chil 
dren?  We  are  richer  for  his  continued  association 
with  his  people  and  they  are  richer  for  the  larger  con 
ception  of  life  which  he  gave  them.  .  .  .  Who  would 
have  thought  that  the  young  Greek,  born  in  the  val 
leys  of  Epiros,  educated  in  the  literature  of  Greek 
and  other  languages,  saturated  with  the  philosophy 
of  the  university,  would  have  become  the  sympathetic 
friend  of  the  little  blind  children  of  Puritan  Massa 
chusetts,  the  head  of  a  great  New  England  educa 
tional  institution,  and  the  man  to  plead  successfully 
with  Yankee  legislators  for  aid  in  his  work?  It  is 
interesting  to  us,  for  we  are  receiving  from  eastern 
Europe  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people.  We  are 
wondering,  sometimes  with  dread,  what  their  influence 
will  be  in  our  American  civilization.  Granted  that  the 
mass  of  them  have  not  in  them  the  qualities  of  the 
Greek  Anagnos,  nevertheless  the  fact  that  he  has  lived 
here  and  done  his  work  gives  us  hope  and  confidence 
that  from  these  other  thousands  may  arise  those  who 
will  make  noble  contributions  to  our  American  life." 

The  following  poem  is  from  the  pen  of  the  act 
ing  director,  at  the  time  of  Anagnos'  death,  Mr. 
A.  0.  Caswell: 

"Lift  up  your  faces  again,  O  sorrowing  sons  of  old 

Hellas, 
Bringing  hither  your  burden   of  grief  to   Liberty's 

cradle — 
Bringing  your  tribute  of  praise  and  love  to  the  son  of 

Anagnos ! 


GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 

We  who  speak  in  the  tongue  of  Dickens  and  Milton 
and  Shakespeare, 

Vying  with  you  who  speak  in  the  language  of  Plato 
and  Homer, 

Offer  our  tribute  to  him  who  spake  so  bravely  in  both 
tongues. 

Lift  up  your  faces  again,  and  turn  them  once  more 
to  the  morning! 

Leave  the  valley  and  shadow  and  face  the  glorious 
sunrise ! 

Grieve  no  more  at  his  death;  rejoice  at  the  life  of 
Anagnos. 

Through  that  life  breathed  the  soul  of  Greece  in  the 
days  of  her  glory! 

Back  through  the  years  let  us  look,  and  view  his  long 
life's  valiant  struggle. 

Back  through  the  years  see  the  child,  trudging  alone 
o'er  the  mountains, 

Suffering  hunger  and  cold,  freezing  and  starving  the 
body 

So  that  the  soul  might  eat  and  drink  at  the  table  of 
Wisdom. 

See  him  with  body  all  maimed  and  hacked  by  Turk 
ish  fanatic, 

For  that  his  soul  made  her  boast  in  that  holiest  cause, 
human  freedom ! 

Once  again  mark  the  brave  youth  his  chosen  profes 
sion  abandon 

After  the  study  of  years,  heedless  of  promised  ad 
vantage, 

Scorning  the  taking  of  fees  at  the  cost  of  his  soul's 
prostitution ; 

And,  daring  with  voice  and  with  pen  to  stand  for  the 
right  against  tyrants, 


MICHAEL  ANAGNOS  225 

See  him  in  prison  immuned,  branded,  disgraced,  but 

undaunted ! 
And  now  on  the  ocean's  broad  waste,  follow  the  son 

of  Anagnos — 
His  own  Athens  left  far  behind,  making  high  place 

for  another; 
Eyes  for  the  sightless  to  be,  and  ever  their  steadfast 

defender ; 
Learning   an   alien   speech,   yet   to   be   voice   to   the 

speechless. 
Patiently  through  the   long  years   he   wrought  with 

earnest  devotion. 
Structures  lofty  he  reared;  vastness  of  treasure  he 

gathered. 
Wisely  he  managed  affairs  that  nothing  be  wasted  or 

squandered ; 

Little  would  have  for  himself,  much  though  of  treas 
ure  he  needed, 
All  the  great  plans  of  his  heart  to  bring  to  successful 

fruition ; 
Frugally  lived  all  his  days  so  that  the  youth  in  his 

own  land 
Easier  might  find  the  climb  up  the  steep  pathways  of 

learning. 

"Lift  up  your  faces  again,  O  sorrowing  sons  of  old 

Hellas ! 
The  soul  of  Anagnos  still  lives !     His  life  will  go  on 

through  the  ages ! 
Follow  the  path  he  has  blazed  in  all  of  your  thinking 

and  doing. 
So   shall  the  glory  of  Greece  again  be  your  glory 

forever." 


APPENDIX  A 

TABLE  BY  STATES  AND  CITIES  OF  THE 

APPROXIMATE  NUMBER  OF  GREEKS 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

BY 

SERAPHIM  G.  CANOUTAS 

BY  CITIES    BY  STATES 

ALABAMA 

Birmingham,  Ensley     1200 

Gadsden  and  Attalla 200 

Mobile    400 

Montgomery    400 

Other  places 1300          3500 

ARIZONA,  scattered,  1000 

ARKANSAS 

Little  Rock 300 

Helena,   Hot   Springs,  Pine 

Bluff,  Texarkana,  etc.   .  .        700         1000 


CALIFORNIA 

San  Francisco  and  Oakland     5000 

Los  Angeles     1000 

Sacramento   1000 

Other  cities  and  R.  R.  lines  10000       17000 


APPENDIX  A  227 

(Thousands  of  R.  R.  laborers  in 
California  and  some  in  vine 
yards  and  farms) 

COLORADO  BY  CITIES  BY  STATES 

Denver     500 

Pueblo   700 

Laborers  in  mines  and  R.  R. 

lines   .  2000  -      3200 


CONNECTICUT 

Ansonia 300 

Bridgeport    300 

New  Britain    200 

Norwich    200 

Stamford     200 

Other  places   800         2200 


DELAWARE 

Wilmington   150  150 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 

Washington     700  700 

FLORIDA 

Tarpon  Springs 2000 

Pensacola     500 

Other  places   1500         4000 


228 


APPENDIX  A 


GEORGIA  BY  CITIES    BY  STATES 

Atlanta    900 

Savannah     500 

Augusta     200 

Brunswick 150 

Other  places   1500         3450 

IDAHO 

Scattered  laborers 

(not    steady)    3000 

ILLINOIS 

Chicago    20000 

Moline     1000 

Other  places 9000       30000 

INDIANA 

Indianapolis    500 

Other  places    2000          2500 

IOWA 

Des  Moines 300 

Sioux  City 500 

Other  places    1700          2500 

KANSAS 

Kansas  City    300 

Independence     300 

Other     places     (mostly     la 
borers)     2000         2600 


APPENDIX  A  229 

KENTUCKY  BY  CITIES  BY  STATES 

Lexington    200 

Louisville     300 

Other  places    1000         1500 


LOUISIANA 

New  Orleans 700 

Other  places   800          1500 

MAINE 

Biddeford    500 

Lewiston    500 

Augusta  and  Waterville  .  .  .  200 

Westbrook  and  Portland  .  .  200 

Other  places   400          1800 

MARYLAND 

Baltimore    800 

Other  places 700          1500 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Boston     .  . 3000 

Lowell    8000 

Lynn    2000 

Peabody     1000 

Springfield     500 

Ipswich    500 

Haverhill 2000 

New  Bedford 800 

Clinton     500 

Holyoke 500 


230  APPENDIX  A 

BY  CITIES    BY  STATES 

Worcester    900 

Fitchburg    500 

Brockton 300 

Salem 500 

Other  places    10000       31000 


MICHIGAN 

Detroit    1000 

Other  places    2000         3000 


MINNESOTA 

Minneapolis     600 

St.   Paul    400 

Other  places        1000         2000 

MISSISSIPPI 

Scattered     1000 

MISSOURI 

St.  Louis 4000 

Kansas  City   2000 

Other  places   2000          8000 


MONTANA 

Billings    200 

Butte 200 

Great  Falls 400 

Other  places  (laborers)   .  .  .  2000         2800 


APPENDIX  A  231 

NEBRASKA  BY  CITIES  BY  STATES 

Omaha  and  South  Omaha  .  .      1000 
Other  places   2000         3000 

NEVADA 

Ely  and  McGill 1000 

Other  places    500         1500 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

Manchester   3500 

Nashua    2000 

Dover 500 

Other  places    2000         8000 


NEW  JERSEY 

Newark  and  Orange 1000 

Other  places 1500         2500 

NEW  MEXICO 

Scattered     1000 

NEW  YORK 

New  York  City  with  Brook 
lyn  20000 

Albany 400 

Buffalo    1000 

Schenectady    500 

Yonkers 300 

All  other  places   10000       32200 


232 


APPENDIX  A 


NORTH  CAROLINA  BY  CITIES  BY  STATES 

Scattered 2000 

NORTH  DAKOTA 

Not  steady 2000 

OHIO 

Cincinnati    500 

Cleveland    500 

Youngstown    500 

Akron    200 

Canton    300 

Toledo     '300 

All  other  places 8000       10300 

OKLAHOMA 

Oklahoma   City,   etc 1000         1000 

OREGON 

Portland    2000 

All   other  places    (laborers)  4000          6000 

PENNSYLVANIA 

Philadelphia    2500 

Pittsburg    4000 

Monessen     800 

Reading-     600 

Other  places 10000       17900 


APPENDIX  A  233 

RHODE  ISLAND  BY  CITIES  BY  STATES 

Providence    600 

Pawtucket     400 

Other  places    300          1300 


SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Scattered     2000 

SOUTH  DAKOTA 

Scattered     2000 

TENNESSEE 

Memphis     500 

Knoxville     100 

Chattanooga     100 

Nashville     200 

Other  places   200         1100 


TEXAS 

Scattered    4000 

UTAH 

Salt  Lake  City 2000 

Other  places  (laborers)    .  .  .      2000          4000 


VERMONT  500 

VIRGINIA 

Norfolk  and  Newport  News        500 

Other  places 1500         2000 


234  APPENDIX  A 

WASHINGTON  BY  CITIES  BY  STATES 

Seattle     1000 

Tacoma   1000 

Other  places    (laborers)    .  .      4000          6000 

WEST  VIRGINIA 

Wheeling     500 

Other  places    1500         2000 

WISCONSIN 

Milwaukee    3000 

Sheboygan     500 

Other  places 2000         5500 

WYOMING    4000 

ALASKA  .  300-500 


APPENDIX  B 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A  GUIDE  TO  FURTHER  READING  AND  STUDY 
The  five  books  and  three  magazine  articles  in 
Section  III  marked  with  *  are  written  in  easy, 
popular  style,  and  are  specially  recommended  ft>r 
further  light  reading.  Taken  together,  they  will 
furnish  a  good  historical  background  and  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  life  in  Greece  so  necessary  for  a  real 
appreciation  of  the  Greeks  in  America.  Let  me 
also  specially  recommend  the  two  short  pamphlets 
and  the  "Report"  in  Section  IV  marked  with  *. 

I.    GREEKS  IN  AMERICA 
GREEK-AMERICAN    GUIDE    AND    BUSINESS    DIRECTORY 

FOR  1912,  S.  G.  Canoutas  (500  pages),  in  Greek 
except  the  Directory,  but  also  valuable  to  those 
who  do  not  read  Greek  for  its  pictures,  and 
especially  for  the  Directory  in  English,  which 
gives  by  states  and  cities  the  street  addresses 
of  churches,  professional  and  business  men, 
etc.,  of  the  Greeks  of  the  whole  United  States. 
Price,  $1.00,  from  Geo.  N.  Helmis,  158  W. 
23rd  Street,  New  York. 

Books  in  Modern  Greek  of  all  kinds,  gram 
matical,  historical,  ecclesiastical,  fiction,  pocket 
and    other    lexicons,    histories    of    the    United 
States,  music,  pictures,  etc.,  etc.,  may  be  ob- 
235 


APPENDIX  B 

tained  from  either  of  the  two  book  stores  in 
New  York  City,  which  will  send  their  catalogs 
on  request:  "Atlas,"  25  Madison  Street;  "At 
lantis,"  113-117  W.  31st  Street.  "Atlantis" 
publishes  an  excellent  illustrated  magazine 
monthly,  in  Greek  (price  per  year  $2.00). 
The  Eastern  and  Western  Review,  published 
monthly  by  T.  T.  Timayenis  in  English,  24 
Milk  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  always 
contains  something  of  value  about  the  Greeks 
(price,  $2.00). 

The  addresses  of  the  many  other  papers  and 
periodicals  of  the  Greeks  in  America  may  be 
found  in  Canoutas'  "Guide." 

Note:  We  regret  to  feel  obliged  to  give  a 
caution  about  the  only  book  on  the  Greeks  in 
America  except  the  present  one,  GREEK  IMMI 
GRATION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES,  by  H.  P.  Fair- 
child,  1911.  After  painstaking  consideration, 
with  expert  assistance,  of  this  book  and  its  refer 
ences  I  must  conclude  that  it  lacks  fairness,  care 
and  accuracy,  except  in  the  chapter  "Emigra 
tion,"  which  originally  appeared  as  a  college 
thesis  in  pamphlet  form. 

II.    MODERN   GREEK   LANGUAGE 

MODERN  GREEK  METHOD,  by  Rizo-Rangabe  (Ginn 
&  Company,  1896)  is  perhaps  the  most  prac 
tical  method  for  studying  modern  Greek. 

MODERN  GREEK,  by  Vincent  and  Dickson  (Mac- 
millan,  1904),  is  also  an  excellent  method  and 


APPENDIX  B  237 

contains  a  very  valuable  appendix  of  54  pages 
by  Sir  R.  C.  Jebb,  on  the  relation  of  Modern 
to  Classical  Greek. 

Grammars  in  Greek,  lexicons  and  other  study 
books  may  be  obtained  from  the  Greek  book 
stores. 

III.  MEDIAEVAL  AND  MODERN  GREECE  AND 
GREEKS 

The  following  list  has  been  carefully  selected 
with  the  kind  assistance  of  Professor  J.  Irving 
Manatt  of  Brown,  former  Consul  at  Athens, 
who  furnished  most  of  the  descriptive  notes. 
Most  of  these  books  have  been  referred  to  in 
the  preparation  of  this  book,  and  its  compan 
ion  historical  volume  to  be  published  later. 

Bikelas,  Demetrios,  SEVEN  ESSAYS  ON  CHRISTIAN 
GREECE,  tr.  by  the  Marquess  of  Bute  (A.  Gar 
diner,  London,  1890.  $3.00). 

Comprehensive  view  from  beginning  of  By 
zantine  Empire  to  present  day  from  a  Greek's 
standpoint. 

Freeman,  E.  A.,  the  great  historian,  several  of 
the  HISTORICAL,  ESSAYS,  3rd  and  4th  Series 
(Macmillan). 

Foord,  E.  A.,  THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE,  the  rear 
guard  of  Europe.  (Black,  London,  1911.) 

Finlay,  HISTORY  OF  GREECE,  146  B.  C.-1864  A.  D. 
(7  vols.) 

The  classical  English  history  of  medieval 
and  modern  Greece.  (The  first  two  volumes 
have  been  published  in  "Everyman's  Library.") 


238  APPENDIX  B 

*Phillips,  W.   Alison,  WAR  OF  GREEK  INDEPEND 
ENCE.      (Scribners,  New  York,  1897.) 

A  good  short  history. 
Howe,  Dr.  Samuel  Gridley,  AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

OF  THE  GREEK  REVOLUTION.   (New  York,  1828.) 

Valuable  first-hand  story  of  the  holy  struggle 
in  which  the  author  had  a  noble  part. 
Sanborn,  F.  B.,  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  G.  HOWE.      (Rob 
erts  Brothers.) 

First   biography   of  Dr.   Howe   by  his  best 
friend. 

Richards,  Laura  E.,  LETTERS  AND  JOURNALS  OF 
SAMUEL  GRIDLEY  HOWE   (2  vols.).      (Dana  Es- 
tes  &  Company,  Boston,  1906.) 
Sergeant,  Lewis,  GREECE  IN  THE  19TH  CENTURY. 
(T.  Fisher  Unwin,  London,  1897.) 

Best  work  on  the  subject  from  a  Philhellenic 
standpoint. 
Felton,  C.   C.    (Pres.  of  Harvard),  LECTURES  ON 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  GREECE.      (Boston,   1867.) 

*Tuckerman,  Charles  K.,  THE  GREEKS  OF  TO-DAY. 
(G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  1872.) 

Still  one  of  the  best  books  on  the  subject. 
*Jebb,  Sir  R.  C.,  MODERN  GREECE.      ($1.75.) 

Excellent  short  sketch. 

Mahaffy,     RAMBLES     AND     STUDIES     IN     GREECE. 
($1.50.) 

One  of  the  best  books  from  a  classical-mod 
ern  standpoint. 

Quinn,   Rev.    Don   Daniel    (Ph.D.    University   of 
Athens,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest),  HELLADIAN 


APPENDIX  B 

VISTAS.      (Yellow  Springs,  Ohio,  3rd  ed.,  1910, 

$1.25.) 

Most     sympathetic     study     of    the    modern 

Greeks  by  one  who  knows  them  intimately. 
Tozer,  Rev.  H.  F.,  THE  ISLANDS  OF  THE  .EGEAN. 

(Oxford,  1890.) 
Bent,   J.   Theodore,   THE   CYCLADES  :   LIFE  AMONG 

THE    INSULAR    GREEKS.      (Longmans,    London, 

1885.) 
*Manatt,  J.  Irving,  THE  LIVING  GREEK;  article  in 

American  Review  of  Reviews,  11:398. 
*Manatt,  J.  Irving,  A  CARAVAN  OF  THE  PELOPON- 

NESE,  Chautauquan,  June,  1901. 
*Manatt,  J.  Irving,  A  CRUISE  IN  THE  AEGEAN,  Chau 
tauquan,  April,  1901. 
Dragoumis,  Mrs.  Julia  D.,  TALES  FROM  A  GREEK 

ISLAND.      (Houghton,  Boston,  1911.) 
*Horton,  George,  IN  ARGOLIS. 

Fascinating  little  sketch  of  Greek  life  by  an 

ex-consul  at  Athens,  now  consul-general  at  Sa- 

lonica. 
Horton,  George,  MODERN  ATHENS. 

A  slight  but  vivid  sketch. 
Barrows,  Samuel  J.,  ISLES  AND  SHRINES  OF  GREECE 

(Boston,   1898.) 

An  excellent  book  by  a  warm  friend  of  the 

Greeks. 
Allinson,  F.  G.  and  A.  C.  E.,  GREEK  LANDS  AND 

LETTERS.      (Houghton,  1907.) 

A   charming  book   for   the   classical   scholar. 


240  APPENDIX  B 

It  aims  to  interpret  Greek  lands  and  literature 
and  to  steep  the  literature  in  local  color. 
MONOGRAPH  on  the  100th  anniversary  of  the  birth 
of  Samuel  Gridley  Howe. 

MEMORIAL,   OF   MICHAEL  ANAGNOS    (1837-1906). 

A  volume  with  biography,  memorial  ad 
dresses,  etc.  (Boston,  1907.) 

(These  last  two  are  obtainable  from  the  Per 
kins  Institution  for  the  Blind,  South  Boston.) 
*Demetrios,  George,  WHEN  i  WAS  A  BOY  IN  GREECE. 
(Lothrop,  Lee  &  Shepherd  Company,  Boston, 
1913.) 

This  was  written  by  a  sixteen-year-old  Greek 
Boy  in  Boston,  and  is  an  interesting  description 
of  Greek  life  in  Macedonia  just  before  the  out 
break  of  the  Balkan  War. 
IV.    THE    EASTERN    ORTHODOX   CHURCH 

The  following  are  selected  from  a  descriptive 
book  list  published  in  191£  by  a  committee 
of  the  American  Branch  of  the  Anglican 
and  Eastern  Orthodox  Churches'  Union  (con 
sisting  of  the  Bishop  Co-ad  jutor  of  New 
Hampshire  and  the  author).  The  complete 
list  may  be  obtained  from  THE  YOUNG  CHURCH 
MAN  COMPANY,  MILWAUKEE,  WISCONSIN,  who  are 

the  American  agents,  and  have  agreed  to  import 
and  keep  in  stock  these  books  and  will  furnish 
them  direct  or  through  any  bookseller.  The 
complete  list  is  also  published  in  the  last  book 
of  the  following  list. 


APPENDIX  B  241 

By  the  Rev.  T.  J.  Lacey.  New  edition,  1912. 
Cloth,  50  cts ;  by  mail  55  cts ;  paper,  25  cts ;  by 
mail  30  cts.  (Gorham,  New  York.) 

A  brief  account  of  Orthodox  history  and 
characteristics  and  of  Orthodox  immigrants  in 
America.  This  is  the  book  to  introduce  the 
subject  and  to  lend  to  others. 
STUDENTS'  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREEK  CHURCH.  By 
Rev.  A.  H.  Hore.  Price,  $2.25 ;  by  mail  $2.40. 

The  best  and  most  unbiased  complete  history 
from  the  Council  of  Nicea  to  the  present  day, 
including  all  parts  of  the  Eastern  Orthodox 
communion  and  also  the  non-Orthodox  Eastern 
Churches,  and  the  relations  with  the  English 
Church;  also  a  good  introduction  on  doctrine 
and  worship. 

MOTHER   OF  ALL   CHURCHES.       By   Rev.   F.   C.    Cole. 

Price,  $1.40;  by  mail  $1.50. 

Vividly  covers  much  ground  in  a  sketchy, 
popular  form.  Might  (but  ought  not)  take  the 
place  of  the  solid  history  of  Hore  for  general 
reading. 

THE     ORGANIZATION     OF     THE     ORTHODOX     EASTERN 

CHURCHES.  By  Margaret  Dampier.  [E.  C. 
A.]  Price,  40  cts. ;  by  mail  45  cts. 

Contains  outlines  of  the  constitution  of  each 
of  the  four  Patriarchates  and  eleven  autono^ 
mous  Eastern  Orthodox  Churches. 

SERVICE      BOOK     OF     THE     GRECO-RUSSIAN      CHURCH. 

Translated  by  Isabel  Hapgood.  Price,  $4.00; 
by  mail  $4.25.  (Houghton  Mifflin.) 


APPENDIX  B 

The  one  complete  standard  translation  of  all 
the  most  important  services,  arranged  for  ac 
tual  use  of  the  Russian  Church  and  invaluable 
for  American  readers. 

A    LITTLE    ORTHODOX   MANUAL    OF    PRAYERS    OF    THE 
HOLY  ORTHODOX  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.       Done  into 

English  by  F.  W.  Groves  Campbell,  LL.D. 
Price,  $1.00;  by  mail  $1.10. 

The  book  to  carry  when  attending  an  East 
ern  Eucharist.  It  contains  only  the  Divine 
Liturgy  (Eucharist),  with  tables  and  private 
prayers  and  offices. 

THE       CATECHISM       OF       THE       ORTHODOX      EASTERN 

CHURCH.  By  Ignatius  Moschake,  sub-professor 
of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Athens  and 
Professor  in  Education.  Being  the  Shorter 
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Used  in  the  public  schools  in  Greece. 

*HINDRANCES  AND  PROGRESS  IN  THE  MODERN  GREEK 

CHURCH.  A  paper  by  the  Very  Rev.  Const. 
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England.  [A.  &  E.  O.  C.  U.]  Price,  8  cts.; 
by  mail  9  cts. 

THE    CHURCH    AND    THE    EASTERN    EMPIRE.        By    the 

*  There  has  just  been  published  a  little  manual  which  I 
believe  is  better  than  Campbell's,  though  I  have  not  seen  it 
yet:  THE  EUCHARIST  IN  THE  EAST  for  the  A.  &  E. 
O.  C.  U.  (Mowbray,  London).  Also  as  a  companion  volume 
a  translation  of  the  beautiful  MEDITATIONS  ON  THE 
DIVINE  LITURGY  by  the  famous  Russian  author,  N.  B. 
Golgol. 


APPENDIX  B  243 

Rev.  Henry  F.  Tozer.  Published  as  a  volume 
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the  late  Bishop  of  London.  Price,  60  cts. ;  by 
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RUSSIA  AND  REUNION.  A  Translation  of  Wilbois' 
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men,  all  the  more  impressive  because  the  author 
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GREEK    MANUALS    OF     CHURCH     DOCTRINE.       An    ac- 

count    of    four    popular    Catechisms.     By    the 
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HYMNS  FROM  THE  MORNING  LAND. 

HYMNS     OF     THE     GREEK     CHURCH.       By     the     Rev. 

John  Brownlie.     Price  of  the  first  two,  $1.40 


244      ,  APPENDIX  B 

each;  by  mail,  $1.50:  of  the  third,  60  cents;  by 
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Translations,  centos,  and  suggestions  from 
that  mine  of  sacred  poetry  contained  in  the 
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*THE        PEOPLE        OF        THE        EASTERN        ORTHODOX 
CHURCHES,    THE    SEPARATED    CHURCHES    OF    THE 

EAST,  AND  OTHER  SLAVS  Report  of  the  com 
mission  of  the  Missionary  Department  of  New 
England,  appointed  to  consider  the  work  of 
cooperation  with  these  churches, — The  Rt. 
Rev.  E.  M.  Parker  (chairman),  Rev.  R.  K. 
Smith,  and  Rev.  Thomas  Burgess  (sec'y,  Saco, 
Maine).  Paper,  28  cents,  post-paid.  (For 
sale  by  the  Young  Churchman  Company,  Mil 
waukee,  Wisconsin.) 

This  was  issued  in  May,  1913.  126  8vo. 
pages.  It  is  a  remarkable  series  of  articles  by 
special  investigators,  with  full  bibliographies 
and  valuable  tables ;  designed  to  individualize, 
give  the  historical  background,  and  also  the 

*  Dr.  Neale's  invaluable  HYMNS  OF  THE  EASTERN 
CHURCH  is  out  of  print.  THE  ORTHODOX  EAST 
ERN  CHURCH,  by  A.  Fortesque,  is  full  of  information, 
but  is  written  from  an  ultra-Papal  standpoint.  THE 
GREEK  AND  EASTERN  CHURCHES,  by  Rev.  Walter 
F.  Adeney  (International  Theological  Library),  is  full  of 
information  and  strives  to  be  fair,  but  contains  too  much 
Protestant  bias. 


APPENDIX  B  245 

condition  in  America,  of  the  20  different  races 
or  branches  of  races  of  immigrants  in  America 
from  southeastern  Europe  and  Asia  Minor. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Acholyte,  100. 

Agents,  45-46,  see  also  La 
bor  and  Steamship 
agents. 

Alaska,  192,  234. 
Altar,  158. 

Anglican   Communion: 
Greek's  conception  of,  114, 

120-121. 

size  and  organization,  121. 
work    of    American    com 
missions,  240,  244. 
see  also  Hill. 
America: 
benefited    by    Greeks,   see 

Greeks 

connection     with     Greece, 
see     Philhellenes,     War 
orphans. 
American : 

flag  respected,  89,  178. 
history,    etc.     studied    by 

Greeks,  72-73,  77. 
ideals,  74,  78,  189. 
Americans : 
baneful   influence,   74,   75- 

78,  83,  110,  136,  162. 
duty  to  ^Greeks   (practical 
hints),    xii,     70fn,     128, 
137,    149,    152,    155-157, 
186-189,  222-223. 
Amusements,  92-93,  150-153, 

162,  174. 
Anagnos,  Michael,  190,  203, 

208-225. 

connection       with      immi 
grants,  217-220,  223. 
Ancestry  of  Greeks,  3,  6. 


249 


Antidoron,  102. 
Archimandrite,  83fn. 
Assimilation,    169,    175,    187, 

222-223. 

Athletic  clubs,  60,  174. 
Athens,   12,  132. 
Atlanta,  171. 
Atlantis,  67. 
Atlantis  Illustrated  Monthly, 

69. 
"Atlantis,"    publishers    and 

book  store,  70-72,  236. 
"  Atlas,"  book  store,  71,  236. 

Balkan  war,  see  War. 

Balls,  see  Dances 

Band,  93. 

Baptism,  56,  107,  157. 

Baths,   150. 

Beta  Theta  Pi  founder,  200. 

Bible,  11,  76,  77,  120,  122. 

Birmingham,  171-174. 

Bishop,  57-58,   158,  see  also 

Russian. 
Blind,    Anagnos    work    for, 

213-216. 
Books   read  by   Greeks,   70- 

73. 

Book  stores,  70,  71. 
Boot     blacks,     38-40,     135- 

137. 
Boston  colony,  25,  26,  54,  61, 

66,  68,  76,  137. 
Botassi,   Consul-General,   84, 

206. 

Boys,  39,  40,  132,  135-137. 
Boy  Scouts,  60fn. 
Bread,  Eucharistic,  102. 


250 


INDEX 


Business  ability,  31,  32,  35, 

38,    131,    132,    137,    170. 

notable    examples,   33,   35, 

37,  41,  166,  172. 
Byron,  Lord,  8,  197fn,  208. 
Byzantine: 
architecture,  55,  143,  157- 

160. 
Empire,  insufficient   study 

of,  4,  5. 

Greek  lexicon,  203. 
see     also     Church    music, 
Church  musical  notation, 
History. 


Calendar,  87. 
California,  42,  61,  146. 
Canada,  16,  27,  56. 
Candles,   100,   109,   111,  127, 

158. 

Canon,  liturgical,  96-97,  99. 
Canoutas,  S.  G.,  xii-xiii,  43, 

73,  226. 

Canoutas'  Greek- American 
Guide  quoted,  43,  52, 
123-125,  164-168,  169- 
170,  173. 

Catechism,  11,  76,  242. 
Characteristics,    see    Greeks. 
Chicago,  123-137. 
Children,    74,    77,    110,    133, 

134,  146. 

Chios,  7,  192,  194,  195. 
Christmas,   94,  95. 
Chrismation,  107. 
Church: 
buildings,  55,  126,  143-145, 

165-166. 

building  interior,   157-160. 
calendar,  87,  93-95. 
music,  102-106. 
musical  notation,  104-106. 
organization    in    America, 

53,  56-57. 

pictures  see  Eikons. 
property  titles,  57. 


Church — cont'd. 
service   books,   98fn,   99 fn, 

100,  158,  242fn. 
services,   93-112. 
see  also  Eastern  Orthodox. 
Church,   Greek,  see   Eastern 

Orthodox. 

Church  of  Greece,  11-12. 
Cigarette  manufacturers,  33- 

34. 

Citizenship  in  Greece,  9. 
Clergy,    56-58,    83-84,    107- 

108. 

bishop,  need  of,  57-58. 
education,  11,  58,  83,  114, 

173,  176. 
first  sent,  53. 
how  regarded  by  laity,  12, 

57-58,  83,  107-108. 
income,  140. 
lecturers    of   Pan-Hellenic 

Union,  66. 
number,  83. 
social  standing,  11. 
titles,  83fn. 
types,   140,    170,    171,   173, 

176. 

unauthorized,  58,  83. 
see    also    Deacons,    Monk- 
priests,  Russian. 
Coffee  houses,  3,  37,  126,  150, 
151,   162,   173,   176,    177. 
Colleges  see  Students. 
Colony,  52. 

best  types  of,  169-174. 
Coloveloni,  A.    196. 
Colvocoresses,  Admiral,  195. 
Colvocoresses,  Captain,   194- 

195. 
Communion,    Holy,    94,    101, 

109,  see  also  Liturgy. 
Communities,    52-58. 

best  types  of  169-174. 
Coney  Island,  41. 
Confectioners,  25,  34-36,  61, 

170. 
Confession,  94. 


INDEX 


251 


Constantine,  G.,  205. 
Constantine,  King  of  Greece, 

92. 

Cooper  Union,  200. 
Corimilas,  Minister,  65,  84. 
Costa   Rica,   191. 
Cotton  merchants,  54fn. 
Creed,  101,  117. 
Crete,  10,  210. 
Criminality,  10,  128,130,  147, 

162.    ' 

Cross,  diving  for,  178. 
Crucifix,  158. 
Currant  industry  in  Greece, 

17,  18,  34. 
Czar  of  Russia,  53,  54  fn. 

Dances,   36,   61,    92,    93,   97, 

162. 

Deacons,  80,  101  fn. 
Delaref,  E.  J.,  192. 
Dentists,  80. 

Diplomatic  service,  13,  84. 
Disease,  43-44,  148. 

care  of  sick,  59,  60-61,  64, 

133,  134. 
Distribution  of  Greeks 

in    America,    30,    51,    175, 
226-234. 

in  the  world,  12,  13. 
Divorce,  110. 
Dowry,   59. 

Easter,  96-97. 

Earthquake  sufferers,  60,  66. 
Eastern    and    Western    Re 
view,  70,  236. 
Eastern  Orthodox  Church: 
branches,  121. 
bibliography,  240-244. 
Catholic,  not  Roman,  113, 

119. 
distribution,  121,  122,  244- 

245. 

doctrines,    116,    117,    119, 
120. 


Eastern  Church — cont'd. 

erroneous  ideas  concern 
ing,  113. 

historical  importance,  4,  5, 
6,  7,  77,  115,  116. 

history,  113-122. 

organization,  118,  121,  122. 

rites  and  ceremonies,  93- 
112,  see  also  special 
titles. 

services  in  vernacular,  122. 

size,  113. 

see  also,  Anglican,  Church, 
Clergy,  Eikons,  Lay 
men,  Missions,  Ortho 
doxy  of  Greeks,  Protes 
tant  proselytism,  Ro 
man  propaganda,  Re 
ligion  (personal),  Re 
ligious  toleration,  Rus 
sian. 
Education  in  Greece: 

before  1800,  3-7. 

1800-1837,  7,  8,  119. 

1837-1913,  9-12. 
Education  in  America: 

immigrants,  30,  40,  50,  71, 
72,  78,  132. 

in  Greek  history,  3. 

in  religion,  76,  77,  78. 

non-immigrants,  91  fn,  205- 
207. 

professional  men,  73,  78- 
80. 

students,  80-82. 

see  also  Clergy,   Scholars, 

Schools. 
Eikons,  70,  100,  106-107,  111, 

157,  159. 

Eikonastasis,  158,  159. 
Emigration: 

causes,  17-24. 

sources,  15,  16fn-17fn,  18- 

19,  61-62. 
Employment     agencies,     see 

labor  agents. 
Epiphany,  94,  177. 


252 


INDEX 


Epirotes,  210. 

Episcopal,  see  Anglican. 

Epistle,   100. 

Eucharist,  Holy,  see  Lit 
urgy. 

European   Powers,  8,   9,   10. 

Evangelides,   193-194. 

V 

Factional  strife,  see  Greeks. 

Factory  hands,  see  Mill 
hands. 

Families,  73-75,  see  also 
Greeks,  family  sacred 
duty,  Women. 

Famous   American-Greeks, 
66,  190-207. 

Farmers,  12,  42,  147. 

Fasts,   93,  94. 

Festivals,  93-97,  177-179. 

Filioque,  117. 

Financiers,  12-13,  33. 

Fisheries,   41. 

Fiske,  P.,  196. 

Florida,  early  colony  in, 
191. 

Florida,  see  Tarpon  Springs. 

Florists,  25-26,  36,  61. 

Fruiters,  25-26,  34-36. 

Fruit  industry  benefited,  36. 

Funerals,  111-112,  218-219. 

Galveston,  54fn. 
Gambling,  44,  151,  152,  162. 
George,  King  of  Greece,  9. 
George,    Prince    of    Greece, 

53. 

Girls,    75,   150. 
Good  Friday,  94,  95-96,  127. 
Gospel    Book,    96,    100,    109, 

158. 

Greece,  Modern: 
business  methods,  184. 
economic   depressions,    17- 

19. 
enslaved,    11,   16-17fn,   18, 

19,  22-23,  92. 
population,  12. 


Greece,  Modern — cont'd. 

progress,  9. 

rural  conditions,  12. 

see   also   Athens,    History, 

Schools. 

Greek  Church,  see  Church  of 
Greece,  Eastern  Ortho 
dox  Church. 

Greek,  modern  language,  3, 
69,  77,  78,  92,  204,  236- 
237. 
Greeks: 

abuse  by  Americans,  128, 
141,  147-149,  152,  162- 
164,  186. 

beneficial  to  United 
States,  36,  37,  130,  132, 
171,  175,  187,  223. 

clannishness,  31,  169. 

disillusionment,  19-21,  45, 
78,  79,  184. 

factional  strife,  58,  64,  68, 
124,  144,  170. 

family,  sacred  duty,  32, 
46-47,  133-134. 

historical  pride,  3,  4,  6, 
132-133. 

non-immigrant  class,  65, 
66,  205-207. 

number  in  America,  15,  51 
226-234. 

see  also  Ancestry,  Amuse 
ments,  Business  ability, 
Distribution,  Education, 
Famous  America  n- 
Greeks,  Intellectual  su 
periority,  Orthodoxy, 
Patriotism,  P  h  i  1  a  n- 
thropy,  Political  ideals, 
Religion  (personal), 
Temptations. 
Greek  Students  Association, 

81-82. 

i 

Hill,  Rev.  J.  H.  8,  194fn. 
History,  Greek: 

4000*  B.  C.— 330  A.  D.  3,  4, 


INDEX 


253 


History,  Greek — cont'd. 
330-1453,  4-6. 
1453-1821,   6-7. 
1821-1913,  7-13. 
American's  connection 
with,     see     Philhellenes, 
War  orphans, 
bibliography,  237-245. 
ecclesiastical,  4-6,  113-121. 
importance    of    knowledge 

of  xii,  3,  4-6,  13,  185. 
mediaeval      misunderstood, 

4-5. 

Holy  Synod,  11,  57fn,  83. 
Holy  Week,  95. 
Hotel  employees,  40-41. 
Hotels,  37,  172. 
Housing  conditions: 
boot  black   boys,  J35-137. 
early  immigrants,  £6,  139. 
families,  75,  134,  148,  150. 
great  cities,  90,  134-137. 
in  Greece,  1$,\*SO. 
landlords,  ll2,  147-149. 
mill  towns,  142,  147-150. 
uncongested   colonies,   173. 
Howe,     Julia     Ward,     190, 

194fn,  211  220,  221. 
Howe,    Samuel    Gridley,    8, 
190,  197fn,  199,  210-212, 
222. 

Hull  House,  126,  132. 
Hymns,  translations,  96,  97, 
99,  112,  243-244. 

Icon,  see  Eikon. 

Ideals,    see,    American, 

Greeks. 

Immigration,    general    prob 
lem,  xi,  xii,  186. 
books    recommended, 

160fn,   186fn. 
criminality,  128,  129. 
school  laws,  155-157. 
Immigration,    Greek;    15-17. 
before  1882,  15,  25. 
1882-1891,  25-28. 


Immigration,  Greek — cont'd. 
1891-1913,  29-31. 
higher  class  78,  79. 
permanent  migration,  182- 

184. 

table  of  statistics,  17fn. 
Importers,  34. 
Imports  from  Greece,  34. 
Independence     Day,     87-92, 

218. 

Intellectual   superiority: 
immigrants,  11,  40,  71-72, 
132,  see  also  Profes 
sional  men,  Students, 
non-immigrants,  91  fn,  205- 

207,  see  also  Scholars. 
Ion,  T.  B.,  65,  206. 

Kalopathakes,  M.,  205. 
Klephts,  6,  93. 

Labor  agents,  27,  45-46,  49- 

50,  126,  131,  140,  166. 
Lamb,  93,  97. 
Lawyers,    73,    79. 
Laymen,  122. 
Lent,  93-94. 
Libraries,  70fn. 
Literature,  see  Books. 
Liturgy,  The  Divine,  98-102. 
Lowell,  138-160. 
Lumbermen,  44. 

Mainates,  151,  191. 

Maine  woods,  28. 

Marriage,     74-75,     110,     see 

also  Weddings. 
Masons,  Free,  196,  206,  210. 
Mass,  see  Liturgy. 
Mercantile  houses,  12-13,  33. 
Mesolonghi,  8. 
Metropolitan  of  Athens,   11, 

57. 
Military     organizations,     60, 

153. 

Miller,  L.  M.,  196-197. 
Miller,  J.  P.,  196,  197fn. 


254 


INDEX 


Mill  hands,  44-46,  138-160. 
Mill  towns,  160. 
Miners,  44. 
Minneapolis,  169-170. 
Missionaries,    see    Hill,    and 

Protestant  proselytism. 
Missions,  Orthodox,  115,  122. 
Monasteries,     12,     173,    201, 

204. 

Monk-priests,  83. 
Monroe,  President,  8. 
Music: 

church,  100,  102-106. 

church  notation,  104-106. 

instrumental,  93,  103,  109, 
126-127,   179. 

National  Anthem,  90-91. 
National    Union    of    Greeks, 

63. 
Naturalization,  62,  125,  157, 

174. 

Naval  officers,  194-196. 
New  Orleans,  54fn. 
Newspapers,  10,  21,  67-70. 
New  York  Colony,  25,  26,  35, 

36,  53,  54,  55,  60,  61-62, 

68,   76,   137. 

Occupations,  32-51. 
Orthodox     Eastern     Church, 

see  Eastern  Orthodox. 
Orthodoxy,    of    Greeks,    12, 

18,  53-4,  65,  77. 
Otho,    King    of    Greece,    9, 

210. 

Pan-Hellenic    Union,    63-67, 

88,  89,  153. 
Panhellenic,  67. 
Papamichalopoulos,  C.  66. 
Parades,    174,    177,    188,   see 

also  Processions. 
Paranymph,    109. 
Paspatis,  A.  G.,  192-193. 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 

11,    57,    118,     119,    121, 

243. 


Patriotism,  30,  132. 

beneficial    to    the    United 

States,  187,  222. 
examples,  85,  87-92,  180. 
in  history,  6,  7. 
of  Anagnos,  210,  217,  218. 
Patris,  69,  146. 
Paupers,  10,  59,  76,  153. 
Peddlers,    25,    26,    134,    138, 

139. 
Perkins  Institution,  211-216, 

221. 
Philanthropy: 

in  Greece  and  Turkey,  11, 

12,  193. 
in   the   United   States,   59, 

61,  64,  66,  76,  133. 
money  sent  to  Greece,  59, 

60,  66. 
of     famous     Greeks,     196, 

200,  204,  212-215. 
Philhellenes,     xiii,     xiv,     8, 

196. 

Physicians,  79,  80. 
Picnics,  92,  93. 
Pictures,    3-4,    70,    see    also 

Eikons. 

Political  clubs,  62,  179. 
Political    ideals,    9,    30,    68, 

130,  179-181. 
Pope,  Bishop  of  Rome,  113, 

117-119. 

Prayers,  private,  76,  77. 
Preaching,  100,  158. 
Prejudice,   xii,    10,    127-128, 

186,  187. 

Priests,  see  Clergy. 
Processions,    96,    127,     177- 

178,  see  also  Parades. 
Professional  men,  66,  78-84. 
Professors,  82,  205,  206,  211. 
Property,    37,   41,    150,    172, 

see  also  Church. 
Prosphora,  see  Antidoron. 
Protestant : 

church  buildings,  55. 
Greeks  not,  12,  113. 
history,    119-122. 


INDEX 


255 


Protestant — cont'd. 
proselytism,    12,    84,    122, 

154,    193,   205.     see   also 

Hill. 

Publishers,   72. 
Pulpit,  158. 

Railroad      laborers,      42-44, 

130,  161-162. 
Ralli  Brothers,  207. 
Reader,  100. 
Recreations,     see    Amuse- 

ments. 

Red  Cross  Society,  67. 
Religion,    personal,    12,    78, 

110,  160,  166. 
instruction,  70,  76-77,  100. 
practice,  77,  93-95,  107. 
relation  to  priest,  53,   56, 

107-108. 

Religious  toleration,  122. 
Renaissance,  5. 
Reservists,  85. 
Restaurants,  26,  36-38. 
Revolution,  see  War  of  In 
dependence. 
Riot,  162-164. 
Rites    and    ceremonies,    93- 

112,     see     also     special 

titles. 

Roman  Catholic  Church 
history,  4,  115-120. 
how   regarded  by   Greeks, 

113 

propaganda,  12,  122. 
Russian     Church     and     the 

Greeks,  54,  121,  123,  167. 

Sailors,     16fn,     35fn,     54fn, 

85. 

Saints  Days,  92,  94. 
Salt  Lake  City,  165-166. 
Sanitation,  134-136,  147-150. 
Savannah,  171. 
Schism,  of  West  and  East, 

117-119. 


Scholars,  great,  13,  66,  193, 

200-203,  211. 
Schools : 

in  Greece,  8,  11,  12,  199. 
in  Turkey,  18,  59,  193,  217. 
Greek  in  America,  64,  75- 

78,  157,  220. 

evening,  155-157,  174,  188. 
Massachusetts    laws,    155— 

157. 

public,  75,  132,  157,  174. 
Seattle,  166-168. 
Service,  Sunday,  98-102. 
Sexual   vice,    10,   39^0,   43- 

44,  74,  130,  136. 
Shepherds,   12,  42. 
Sinadinos,  65. 
Sinaitic  monastery,  121,  201, 

204. 

Slaughterhouse  laborers,  44. 
Societies,  53,  58-63,  132,  133, 

153. 

Soldiers,  85,  132. 
Sophocles,      Professor,      13, 

201-205. 
Southern     States,     37,     169, 

171-181. 

South  Omaha,  162-164. 
Sponge  divers,  176. 
Steamship  agents,  17-18,  21- 

22. 
Steamship        transportation, 

22-23. 

St.  Louis,  164-165. 
Strikes,  154. 
Students,  80-82. 
Sunday  schools,  76,  77. 
Syrian,  G.,  195. 

Tarpon   Springs,   176-179. 
Teachers,  77,  78,  140. 
Temperance,     141,     146-147, 

151,  152. 

Temptations,  39,  43,  79,  136. 
Theatres,  41. 

Theatricals,  152-153,  179. 
Thornbull,  John,  191. 


256 


INDEX 


Tones,  liturgical,  99. 
Transvaal,  18. 
Turkish: 

army  service,  24. 

constitution,  24. 


War — cont'd. 

famous    orphans,    192-201. 
1897,  Turkish,  143. 
1912-13,    Balkan,    24,    60, 
66,  85,  92. 


oppression,  6-7,  10,  12,  18,      Washington,  D.  C.,  170-171. 


24,  192. 

University   of   Athens,   4,   9, 
40,  79,  209. 

Vineyard  laborers,  42. 
Vlastos,  S.  J.,  67. 

Waiters,  40,  135. 
War: 

1821-28,  of  Independence, 
4,  7-9. 


Water,  blessed,  96,  177. 
Webster,  Daniel,  8. 
Weddings,  21,  108-111. 
Western  States,  43,  44,  146, 

161-168. 
Women,    47,    75,    131,    133, 

134,  146,  150. 
Women's    societies,    60,    61, 

133. 

Zachos,  J.  C.,  197-201. 
Zenos,  A.  C.,  205-206. 


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